Zootopia - Demon's Deceit
by Cloudsword774
Summary: Continuing my fanfiction from Edge of Eternity. Nick accidently releases something from the past. Something dangerous. But first impressions can't tell you everything. Set after the events of Adrian and two years before Gurē and Ai get their registrations.
1. Before It All Began!

**Zootopia**

 **Demon's Deceit**

 **Disclamer**

 **This is the second part of my story, I don't own any of the characters except Gurē and Ai. Hope you enjoy it.**

 **Prologue – Before It All Began!**

The pleasant chatter of the restaurant pleased him, the black fox with a starry spotted pattern on his fur smiled as he glanced at the seats, every one of them filled with customers that were happy with their meal. Looking further to his left, he noticed a familiar, but strange sight, a red fox dressed in semi-formal slacks and a nice light blue button up shirt feeding what looked to be a bit of Pandanese steamed vegetables to a grey bunny wearing a sparkling blue dress that hugged her in all the right places. Gurē smiled happily, he knew these two, Nick Wilde the fox and Judy Hopps, the ZPD's first and so far only rabbit officer. Two of the best cops Zootopia ever had, and two of the best friends he had ever made.

This however is not the beginning of our story, for as we all know, it takes time to become accustomed to a new culture, or to be accepted into a new society. And thanks to a certain badger and dragon, this fox and his bunny wife, Ai, had been 800 years removed from any society they knew.

No. Our story begins before this, before the restaurant, even before they were frozen in time.

In the past, just short of 800 years ago, a single cat moved through the woods, swaying back and forth between the trees as she breathed heavily to out run her attackers. She tripped on a root, just as an arrow was about to hit her shoulder, barely grazing her kimono and cutting shallowly into her orange and white fur. The blood slowly seeping into the silk of her gown. "GET HER!" she could hear and turned back to see the torches that followed her. She jumped up, moving further down the road as a group of pigs and rams approached where she had been. Quickly she dove behind a bush, trying to hide from the onslaught of angry villagers.

"She went this way!" one of the rams said, pointing his hoof towards the path. The group of villagers quickly marched towards her, pitchforks and torches held high into the air. She peeked from the bush, spying the flames as they passed by, only to view a katana blade pass almost right in front of her. She tipped back in fear, rustling the bush leaves as she fell. "There!" she heard someone say and closed her eyes.

A large pig parted the bush, his tusks thick and dirty from work and his cloths muddy near his knees. He snorted once, and lifted an eyebrow at what he saw. "Huh?" he asked, and saw what looked to be a thin framed doe dear, wheezing on the ground as she bleed out. "Hey, are you ok?" he asked as he moved forward, gripping her shoulder with his hoof. She clenched the injury hard, her hoof trying to stop the bleeding.

"Get away from her!" the pig heard from behind him. There, a brown hood pulled over his head, stood a large snow leopard. His yellow eyes glaring at the doe with intent. In his right paw he held a large staff, one with an ornate circle at the tip dangling six rings, three on each side.

"We have to help her!" the pig said, only to have the leopard point his staff at the doe.

"You foolish pig." the monk said, his robes underneath white with a golden trim, "Bakeneko can transform."

The pig opened his eyes wide and turned to the doe, her teeth ground tight as she let her gaze fall upon the predator. She watched the pig back away, her only life line, fleeing from her, so she changed, her fur melting back into the white and brown as her shape changed as well. Her muzzle shrank, tightening as her cheeks pulled, whiskers growing from her changing nose as her hooves quickly split and grew the same fur she had. The strange thing was, her tail split into two, each moving independently of the other. The villagers gasped in shock as she changed back into a cat form, her paw clenching her shoulder as she still tried to stop the bleeding. "Leave me alone monk!" she nearly growled.

"Demon, you will pay for your crime!" the leopard said.

"I have done nothing!" she retorted.

The leopard smiled, and neared her, "I can either be your judge, or you can plead before the emperor of Pandan!" he said.

She quickly spat her words at him, "I have committed no crime, other than being different than you!" she said, "What are you accusing me of?"

"Do you deny that you have murdered the master of your house?" one of the villagers asked.

"I didn't kill him!" she shouted, "He cared for me like a daughter, fed me, clothed me. He even taught me to read and write! What reason would I have for killing him?"

"Then how did he die?" another villager asked.

"Yes, tell us how he died?" the monk asked.

"Claws!" she said, "My claws would be clean if you'd look!"

"A quick wash and the evidence gone!" the leopard said.

She scoffed at him, "The smell won't leave for days!" she said, and pointed at him, "And I smell blood on you!"

The monk quickly laughed at her, "On me?" he asked, "I have slain many demons such as yourself. Some even this morning, of course you'd smell blood on me. You've got blood on your paws as well, your own blood to cover the smell of your master's!"

She looked behind him, seeing the angry eyes of the villagers staring at her, "Fine, I will see the emperor!" she said, catching everyone off guard.

"Hmm, He is even harsher than I!" the monk told her.

"He is also wiser!" she retorted. The leopard gritted his teeth angrily, but took a single deep breath, "Fine," he said, "Then I shall detain you to meet the emperor in person and explain your crimes to him. Only then will he decide if you are allowed to face him to claim innocents."

She glared at him while the villagers bound her, tying her arms with a thick strong rope to her waist at her back. "Come!" the leopard said as he tugged the ropes, pulling her along with him. "I told you!" he whispered when they were out of earshot, "I'd find you, and make you mine. Your power will come in handy when fooling the stupid prey animals villagers we meet along the route."

"I know what you did!" she quickly growled at him. He stopped, turning to her with surprise on his face.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"Cleaver really." she said with a smile, "But the size of the claw marks on my master are too large for my claws to have done the killing. That, will be evident when they check my claws against the marks you made on the walls of my home! A technique I am going to suggest they perform."

His eyes opened wide as he listened to her speak, "You couldn't stand seeing someone love me like family could you? Letting yourself be invited into the house, claiming to be a monk like you usually do. It was easy. Sutras that didn't work, prayer that would never be answered. That eliminated the forced entry. Then savagely attacking him, the surprise on his face, like someone he knew began the assault. So far everything points to me. But, the claws, oh the claws. You just couldn't help yourself could you? All that rage, that aggressive behavior? It all got the best of you didn't it? The claw marks are too deep for me to have made them, I have thin one and a half inch claws while yours are thick, and can easily reach between two and a half to three inches in length. Once that is revealed, I'm sure your entire case will fall apart." she told him.

He looked at her, shock and worry in his eyes, "And, after that, all I have to do is mention that you're not really a monk, you just play the part and con everyone you see. I'm sure they'll want you there to ensure that you aren't trying anything funny. No one gets away with lying to the emperor." At that, he lifted his staff, "Ah, ah, ah!" she said, wiggling one of her tails like a finger, "I'm almost certain that the village has sent a messenger on ahead of you with a message that tells of my arrival! You wouldn't want my blood telling how you murdered me before I could clear my name do you?" he lowered his staff, anger seething in him.

It was days before they reached the palace, the front gates a sign of hope for Bakeneko as she walked towards them, her captor leading the way. He stopped, and looked down at a bush nest to him, "We'll stop here for a minute." he said.

"Why?" she asked.

"I have to pee!" he told her.

"Tch, make it quick!" she said and turned away from him. Quickly, he instead used his staff to cut the bonds on her arms.

"You see the thing is…" he said as he moved in front of her, "…I won't have to explain where you went if they can see what happened from their windows."

She looked up at him, his massive frame in her way as he loomed over her, "All I have to do is make them see what I want them to see!" His smile frightened her, a sinister grin full of malice as he approached her slowly. Fear overtook her, and she turned, fleeing him in fear of her life. Suddenly she heard him pray, "Oh spirits, of the earth and sky, receive this soul into your ranks, accept her form and imprison her evil so that our world may live in peace!" he said, and threw something, she could feel it when it stuck to her back, and sent a surge of pain through her.

"YAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed, and suddenly, vanished.

"Trickery isn't my only talent!" he said with a smile, and picked up what looked to be a small doll, one of a cat with two tails.


	2. A New Life?

**Chapter 2 – A New Life?**

We travel again through time, landing only a few weeks after the celebration the ZPD had when Adrian's plan had been foiled. A large brick building, bright red as if the building was only a few days old. Up high in one of the rooms, a black fox with a starry speckled pattern of white dots stood there, staring at a small silver box, a black mesh tube off to the side and a small divot line in the middle with single line of something he didn't recognize in its center. He wore his green kimono, the white pants fluffed out as his paws gripped the soft carpet. He heard a sound, a familiar opening and closing of a door. Then the sound of claws tapping against the wooden floor of the entry way. "Gurē?" he heard his friend, Nick Wilde the red fox, call out.

"In-o here Nick-o-San." he called back. Nick entered in, his blue uniform fitting perfectly on him as he looked over to his curious roommate.

"What are you doing?" Nick asked as he brought the bag of groceries to the counter of the kitchen area.

"What-e is dis?" Gurē asked.

Nick shook his head, and walked over to the machine, "Watch!" was all he said, and placed his phone into the divot before pressing his claw to the screen. Suddenly, a music came from it, scarring Gurē out of his fur as the ancient fox turned and dove behind the couch, getting Nick to start laughing. Nick recognized the song from Teddy Money, the song Take Me Home Tonight. Gurē slowly rose up as Nick continued to laugh, "It's a stereo!" Nick told him, "For music!"

"Dat is-o not music." Gurē said with worry.

"Sure it is." Nick said, "It's just modern…sort of."

"Dat is-o not music I know." the black fox repeated.

"I know, which is why you're going to have to get used to it." Nick said as he moved to the kitchen now that he wasn't rolling on the ground laughing, "Besides this is mild compared to some of the other stuff out there."

"Mild?" Gurē asked.

"Docile." Nick explained. Gurē lifted his chin in understanding, and reached for his sword when the chorus started playing, only to find it not there. "Just sit there and listen to the song." Nick ordered as he put the groceries away.

"I do not like-e doing nothing." Gurē said as he kept his distance from the sounding stereo while moving towards the other fox. When he neared, suddenly a bottle of something orange was shoved into his face, getting him to stop in his tracks and look, wide eyed at the beverage.

"You need to wait!" Nick told him, "Your papers haven't been processed yet but they can't deport you because you have no real home, you were brought here as an exhibit." The red fox then pulled the bottle closer to him, and used his claws to pull the top off of it.

"Tch!" the black roommate scoffed as he folded his arms and turned away. He shifted his eyes, watching as Nick downed the soda. "Did-e you get the sake?" he asked.

"Nope!" Nick said as he whipped his mouth with the back of his paw.

"WHAT?" Gurē asked in surprise.

"Too expensive, plus, you can get seriously drunk on that stuff." Nick told him. Suddenly, the music from Nick's phone stopped, a familiar ring tone of Try Everything from Gazelle sounded out. "That's probably Carrots."

"So you can have wine wit Judy, but-e you cannot get me my Sake?" Gurē asked as Nick moved to pick up his phone.

"That's called a date, and last I checked, I was dating Officer Hopps, not you!" Nick said, and touched the button on his phone, "Hey there Carrots!" Nick smiled as he talked, then pulled his phone from his ear when he heard Ai scream in joy. "Carrots, what did I tell you about exciting your roommate?" Nick turned to Gurē, who by now had a triumphant grin in his face.

"Sorry Nick-o-San." Ai said, "I-a wanted to talk to Gurē, but I got excited when I pressed-e the correct button, I-e really like-e dis tech-o-nology!"

"That's great Ai." Nick said, "Does Carrots know you're playing with her phone?"

"Um…yes?" the other bunny said unsure of the answer.

"So you never asked." Nick said, sure of the answer, "Ok, here he is, and remember, when you're done, it's the red button!" He then turned to the grinning fox, and pointed the infernal device to him, "It's for you!"

Gurē's smile instantly fell, he hated technology for reasons only he knew. Gingerly he gripped the phone, careful not to touch the glowing screen. When he placed the device to his ear, he spoke softly, "Hello?" he asked. And again, Ai squealed. Like Nick, he too removed the offending sound from his ear, "Ai, you are not-a helping me like-o dis tech-o-nology!" he called loudly.

"Sorry." she said and quieted down, "But Judy-San has invited me to go shopping!" She couldn't help it; her voice rose in both pitch and volume as she spoke.

"Are you sure Judy-San has-e de money?" he asked, remembering how much he had to pay for his kimono when his old one had been destroyed centuries ago.

"Cloths are-e different here, and much cheaper." the doe bunny said to him.

"What, what's going on?" Nick suddenly asked, getting Gurē to jump a little.

"Judy-San wishes to take Ai-San to de shopping." Gurē responded.

Nick placed his paws to his chin, "Not a bad idea." he said, getting his friend to drop his jaw, "You could use some new cloths as well."

"I am happy wit-e my kimono!" Gurē said quickly and planted himself on the couch.

"PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAS!" Ai suddenly said, again causing Gurē to remove the phone from his ear.

"Ai, the bunny eyes don't work if he can't see them!" Nick said loudly.

"Oh." was all she said in response, "Gurē, I would-e feel much safer if-e you went wit me."

Gurē instantly felt his resolve crumble, the pleading in her voice was just too much for him to refuse and with a sigh he responded, "Alright!"

Again, Ai squealed, though this time Gurē had dropped the phone to his side to protect his ear in advance, it was still ringing from her first and second excited squeal.

"AI!?" they all heard from the phone, "Have you seen my phone?"

Gurē heard her vice dim as he assumed she had pulled the device from her face, "Ah, no Judy-San." she shouted, and then began whispering, "Get Nick-o-San to take you. See you soon!"

Gurē clicked his tongue once as he turned the screen to himself, and remembering Nick's words, clicked his caw to the red part of it. He however didn't expect the phone to once again begin singing, resuming from one of Nick's songs, Remember the Name from Fort Ursa-minor. He fumbled the phone, dropping it to the cushions, and jumping over the sofa arm to hide behind the fabric as he stared at the sounding device. Nick smiled as he picked it up, "So, what'd you bunny say?" he asked as he turned the music off.

Calming down at the silence, Gurē turned to his red furred friend, "They will-e meet us there!" he said. Then thought about something, "Do you think Judy-San will be angry if she notices Ai-San was playing wit her speaking device?"

"Well, if it was me, I'd hide it in one of her drawers so it looks like Carrots misplaced it." Nick said, and caught a look from the other fox, "Oh don't give me that look, I'm sure you've done that to some of Ai's…what did you use back then…scrolls?"


	3. The Color of Stuff!

**Chapter 3 – The Color of Stuff!**

Gurē kept his arms folded as he walked. Not folded as so others could see, but rather, tucking his arms into the sleeves of his kimono, and folding them together. He followed Nick like this as they traversed towards the mall, the one that was only a few dozen yards away from where his apartment was. "Dis cannot be what-e you wanted to do on-e your day off!" the black fox grumbled. He looked up at his walking buddy, the smug red fox with a green button down shirt with what looked to him like a fern pattern on it, beige slacks and a strip of purple fabric that hung around his neck decorated with pink stripes. "Why do you wear those ridiculous-e garments?"

"Hey!" Nick countered, "I wore this shirt when Carrots and me first met."

"So hopeless nostalgia?" the black fox samurai said as his eyes began to mimic Nick's half laden eyes.

Nick simply placed his paw against his forehead with a sigh, "Look, it's my style! We're just going to have to find your style when we get to the mall."

"My style is-a my green kimono wit my black hakama." Gurē said harshly.

"Hmm, your traditional look is fine, but in this day in age it looks like you're wearing a costume." Nick told him. His friend then looked down at his wardrobe, glance up to argue, but caught a glimpse of a few young ones looking at him. A small cheetah, a dear and a lion each looking confused at him, a grown caribou female babysitter ushering them away from him.

With a sigh, he lowered his hand in defeat. "Now I was thinking something casual." he heard Nick say as they continued to walk, "Maybe a nice T-shirt with blue jeans. Hey, what color would go best with your…" When nick finally looked back at the other fox, he saw the down trodden look, his eyebrows lowered in disappointment and defeat with his arms fallen to his sides. "Hey, you ok?" he asked as he stopped.

With a sigh, Gurē stopped as well, "I do not belong here!" he said, and before Nick could say anything else, he lifted his head and continued, staring the red fox in his green eyes, "I know nothing of-a this world, dis time. My heart yearns for Pandan, yet I know my Pandan no longer exsists." Nick stood there, listening as Gurē opened up to him, "Do-a you know what dat's like?" the black fox asked, "Do-a you know what it feels like, not to have-e a home? I am truly alone, here, and I cannot belong."

Nick quickly stopped him, slamming a single paw on the samurai's shoulder. Gurē didn't even flinch as Nick spoke, "I do know what that's like!" the red fox said, "For the longest time, I wandered around this city, chased and mocked. Told I was never going to be anything more than a sly fox who can't be trusted. But you know what I found out?" When Nick didn't answer right away, Gurē shifted his bright yellow eyes to look into Nick's bright green ones, "I found that in order to be something, you can't sit still. Because if you do, the world and all its opportunities will pass you by. In fact, I almost missed Judy. Had I kept trying to get out of her scam, or just let her arrest me, I wouldn't be the cop I am today. Besides, Ai is in the same position you are." Gurē let realization sink in, his eyes wandering the area around him for the answer, "Just keep moving like she is, so she doesn't leave you behind to. Learn, adapt. Change with the world. It's not so bad when you really think about it." Nick then pulled his hand from his friend's shoulder, "And also not so different!"

When Gurē looked back up, he saw Nick wave, the red fox's back turned to him as a pair of grey bunnies walked up to him. Ai, still in her pink cherry blossom kimono and Judy Hopps with a green over shirt hanging from her shoulders atop a black spaghetti strap tank top and blue jean shorts. As quickly as she could, Ai skipped up to him, and wrapped her arms around him. She looked up to him, and in her native language said something, only to stop, and ask something else, before glaring at Nick. "Why do I get the feeling she wants me dead right now?" the nervous fox asked. Gurē, then smiled, and placed a paw to her cheek, and in the same language, spoke to her.

When he stopped, she smiled, and turned to Nick and Judy, "Judy-San. Tell Nick-o-San what-e we found on our way here!"

"Ai saw her first yard sale sign!" Judy said calmly.

"Is it close?" Nick asked.

"Yah, actually, we can take my car the rest of the way!" she told him. Gurē seemed to relax a bit, "Then we can head to the mall afterwards." Judy added in later.

A dark cloud seemed to hang over Gurē's head as he finally admitted defeat to himself. 'I hate-e dis day-in-age.' he thought to himself.

The car rolled up alongside the curb, gently coming to a stop. Gurē was the first to get out, though his fear was not as strong as his first car ride, he was still nervous whenever Judy drove him anywhere. With a breath, he calmed down, just as the other three exited the vehicle, "Oh come on, I'm not that bad!" Judy said to defend herself. Suddenly Ai ran past them, grabbing Gurē's paw as she passed, her nose twitching in excitement as she entered into the driveway. Judy watched as the doe released the surprised fox, and proceeded to bounce around, looking at just about everything.

Nick smiled as the two of them walked towards the driveway. "Yes!" he said, "You are!" Judy puffed out her cheeks at him, and mumbled, just so he couldn't understand her.

They watched as Ai moved around, plucking cloths off of racks just to see if they would fit her, or even Gurē. Her smile seemed to expand each time she found something, and Nick was almost certain it would encompass her face soon. "She kind of reminds me of you when I first saw you!" Nick said.

"What you mean in the ice-cream shop?" Judy asked.

"Nah." Nick responded, "I watched a little as you placed those parking tickets."

"Where you impressed?" she asked as she eyed him.

"Actually, you made me glad that the van belonged to Finnick and not me at the time!" the red fox responded. His eyes narrowed into his signature smirk as he walked away. Judy stopped, watching him in disbelief before quickly being distracted by his swooshing tail as he flipped it side to side. "You coming?" he asked as he coyly turned his head, breaking her from her gaze. Without a word, she ran and caught up to him. Only then did she speak.

"I was pretty impressive though, right?" she asked, only to have him chuckle in response, "Right?"

Gurē held out his paws as Ai tried once again to place an overly large shirt up to see if it would fit him. He could tell, it was made more for a small elephant, or rhino or something of that size. She quickly bounded away as he finally took a sigh of relief. He could finally browse for something he wanted to see. He saw the house open, a sign out front saying, 'OPEN HOUSE' in big bold letters. Suddenly he witnessed a family of pigs, obviously not the owners, walk into the door, each with wonder in their eyes. With a shrug of his shoulders, he walked towards it, his paws in his sleeves as usual.

Inside the home, he was awed by the décor, brilliant bamboo railings and stairs with the entryway floor made from the same wood. White walls nearly blinded him as he saw several glass display cases and lots of fine dishes. "Hello!" he heard from his side. There, standing next to him was a snow leopard. She stood slightly taller than him, and her ears taller and sharper. She also had what looked to be a racoon mask of white fur surrounded by black fur around her eyes.

'A mix breed' he thought to himself, 'A rare thing even today.'

"Can I help you?" she asked. Gurē snapped out of his thoughts, shook his head violently and coughed. "Well, alright!" she said and proceeded to walk past him.

"WAIT!" he said, and unfolded his arms to stop her. "Dis is-a my first garage sale." He admitted, and felt a pair of paws wrap around his arm, the one he had lowered to let the other one rise. He found Ai standing there, her arms wrapped around his and a narrowed look in her eyes, "…Our-e first garage sale!" he corrected himself. She looked about ready to tackle the snow leopard, "We are not sure of-e de rules when entering-e de house."

"Well, it's always been tradition to take shoes off when you enter the house, passed on from my great-great-great grandfather's way of life, it actually was the only thing that stuck." she told them, her thoughts running away from her. After she shook her head, she continued, "Anyway, feel free to look through any of the open rooms, the bathrooms are labeled and try not to go upstairs, everything for sale is right here."

Gurē watched as she walked away, his eyes full of surprise, only to hear a huff from the doe bunny next to him, "What?" he asked, only to have her turn away from him, "Do you not see?" he asked as he pointed a paw in the direction she had gone, "Her ancestor from Pandan, like we are!" Ai turned to him, her eyes softer as he spoke, "You were-e right Ai, de migration was-e real!"

"Do you tink she is prettier dan me?" Ai suddenly asked. Gurē stood, stunned a little at her question.

"Better watch what you say here!" he heard from behind him. His reflexes kicked in, and with a spin, he quickly grabbed the paw that touched his shoulder, and spun the red fox around, wrenching his arm up behind his back, "OWWW, OW, OW, OW, OW, OW!" Nick cried out.

"Do not sneak up on a samurai!" the black fox said as he released the paw of his friend.

"OW, WOW!" Nick said as he rubbed his shoulder, "And I thought Cops had to train hard!"

"I told you not to scare him, but even I can't believe how fast he moved!" Judy said as she stood there, both a smirk and surprise on her face.

"Look mommy!" the four of them heard as a lamb and mother sheep walked past them, "I got a good one!" the little one held up a figurine, carved from wood. It looked like a wild boar, large bellied with four tusks and a huge mouth. It was missing the paint of one of its eyes and a hoof had clearly come off of its left arm.

"Ooh! Nice!" the mother said, both cringing and happy for her son.

"Thanks for giving me that dollar!" the kid responded.

"Now that looks cool!" Nick said, and promptly received a punch to his sore arm from Judy.

"Don't even think about it!" she said.

Ai turned back to Gurē as he chuckled, getting him to quiet down, "No." was all he said, and smiled nervously.


	4. What's in the Past?

**Chapter 4 – What's in the Past?**

It seemed like Ai was going to cry. Her eyes glaring at Gurē angrily as the tears began to slowly pile up in the corners of her eyes. "Ai, she is not prettier dan you!" he quickly said, "I just-e noticed she was mixed breed!" This caught her attention, her tears pausing in their journey as she listened to him and looked towards the white furred woman, "Dat is all!"

Nick looked over, spying the woman as she turned to help another animal, "Well what do you know?" he said. The white snow leopard turned her head quickly, and her eyes went wide, "Patty Bella!"

"Nicolas Wilde!" she spoke and walked up to him, a small smile on her face, right before she slapped him.

"Ow!" he said as he rubbed his cheek.

"That was for nearly bankrupting my father!" she told him.

"Ok, that was a long time ag…" he began and was quickly slapped again, "OW!"

"And that's for thinking a charlatan like you is welcome back!" she interrupted.

"You know you just assaulted a police officer, right?" he asked.

"Hah!" she shouted, "The day I believe anything you say is the day I die!"

"Actually mam!" Judy interrupted, "He's telling the truth." Judy quickly pulled out her badge, showing it to the mixed breed, "Officer Judy Hopps, ZPD. I'm off duty right now. And Nick here is my partner! Has been for almost a year!"

Still rubbing his cheek, Nick pulled his own badge from his pocket, "Ow!" he repeated, "Haven't you seen the news?" he asked, "Carrots and I solved the Night Howler's case together!"

"The what?" she asked, "I must have been on my honeymoon then!" She then quickly turned to the doe bunny, "But I have heard of you!" she said, "You're the first bunny to make it to the force."

"Oh, well. Congratulations, even if it's a bit late!" Judy said.

"Who's the lucky animal?" Nick then asked.

"Why?" she turned with venom in her words, "So you can scam some more money out of him?"

Judy quickly intervened, "Look mam, he's quit that life. I understand your hostility; but's he's changed. If you can't trust him then trust me to keep him in line!"

Patty looked down at the doe, curiosity in her eyes, then looked back up at Nick, who my now was grinning with nervous energy. She noticed it, knew it. There was honesty in that doe's eyes, but Nick just looked like a child who was waiting to see what kind of punishment he was going to have to endure. Then with a sigh, she relented, "Fine, but I don't want him wandering my house without supervision. You keep an eye on that fox!" she said.

"Always!" Judy said, and gripped Nick's paw in her own.

Patty sighed again, and turned to walk away, but without them knowing, smiled, "About time that fox found what he was looking for!" she whispered to herself.

"Thanks Carrots!" Nick said as he and Judy walked into the house.

"What-e was dat about?" Gurē asked. Ai just shrugged her shoulders.

"What exactly did you do?" Judy asked as the two of them looked around the room they were currently in. Clothing was hung all over, with a table in the back for different kinds of tools.

"It was nothing big!" Nick said, "I mean, most of it was my partners at the time. I was…mmm…maybe fourteen, and this group of weasels wanted me to go up to an old snow leopard and sell him something. I'd gotten pretty good at selling different things by then, so it went without a hitch. But then I found that he was…well…eccentric!" Nick turned to her from what he was looking at, eyes downtrodden as he recited the memory, "He put a lot of money into my trust, and I brought it back to the group. That's when I found out how bad they were. The group actually mugged me! Stole everything. It was the one day I thought I'd get a big payout, only to walk away with nothing to my name but some bruised ribs and ego. I was about to walk away from the scene when the old snow leopard saw me. He didn't look upset, at me, rather, he felt sorry for me. He patched me up and his daughter chased me out. Patty was furious that the old man let me have all of that money. First time I was betrayed. So, I guess I just never trusted anyone after that, not till I met you Carrots!"

"What about Finnick?" Judy asked as the migrated to another room, all other animals too busy or excited to really pay attention to them.

"Yah Finnick's my friend, but I never really trusted him, you know?" Nick told her. He then picked up what looked to be a wooden doll, a thin bull like ghost coming out of a bottle. The bottle was nearly cracked in half and one of the arms was missing. "Meh!" he said and tossed it back into the basket.

"What about now?" she asked as he kept looking through the basket of old and broken toys.

"I guess I do a little." Nick told her, "I mean, not like I trust you Carrots! Remember when that mad scientist wanted to weaponized a batch of Night Howler formula into a gas?"

"I remember." Judy said with a smile, "You almost got darted with a serum dart."

"Only cause the guy was crazy." Nick said as an excuse, and turned with a doll in his paw, "Thanks for tackling me out of the way of the dart though."

Judy pointed one of her claws to the doll, "That one look like it's in the best shape!" Nick let his eyes open wide, and then turn to it. The doll was orange and white faced, with one white right paw and a left orange. It wore a torn silk kimono of both dark green and black, a single Yin and Yang circle on the left side. The sash around the waist looked as if it had been removed and replaced several times and torn at one end. The paint had faded but looked in much better condition than any of the others. Plus, it had two tails, each one in four sections connected like it was one piece of string threaded through the back.

"I'm buying it!" Nick said quickly.

"What?" Judy asked, "I thought I told you no!"

Nick quickly pulled out a single dollar, "Not like you can stop me Fluff!" he told her, and literally jumped over her to slink through the door.

"Hey!" Judy said, and she used her powerful legs to chase him. It didn't last long, because Nick found himself face to face with Patty, both blushing furiously, until she frowned. To defuse the situation, Nick lifted the doll and the dollar. Quickly, Patty grabbed the dollar, and glared at him as she walked away.

"I don't think she likes me." he said as he turned back to the grey doe.

Judy simply shook her head, "What are you going to do with that anyway?" she asked as she gestured towards the doll.

"I know a guy who can repaint it! And another guy who can repair the cloths. Then I'm going to sell it.


	5. It Breaks!

**Chapter 5 – It Breaks!**

"You're not really going to sell that thing…are you?" Judy asked.

"Yah, you wouldn't believe how many animals have an obsession with foreign things. Get this doll cleaned up…" he said, and turned it in his paw, "Get rid of this name paint…" he told her as he spotted what looked to be a red mark under the collar of the doll's kimono. Pulling the fabric down just a little, he saw a square written in red ink with unfamiliar characters of what he could only guess were Pandanees origin written inside.

"I still say it was a bad investment!" Judy told him as the two of them exited the house.

"And I'm telling you it'll fetch more than I spend. I'll put it up on an auction I know of, and you'll see." he told her, and leaned up against the car as the two of them waited for Gurē and Ai.

Judy shook her head, "Well, I guess you really can't get much lower than a dollar." She said as Nick began scratching at the red paint. "See what I mean?" he asked, "And about twenty for the remade kimono, with a bout fifteen for the new paint…"

Judy dropped her jaw, "You're paying thirty-five dollars just to get that fixed?" she asked.

"Refurbished!" Nick corrected her, "This will significantly lower the price, but collectors will still pay out the nose for something like this!"

"Well, at least you're doing this legit this time!" Judy said as she folded her paws.

"Oh that reminds me. Carrots, I'm going to have to hijack your online account!" Nick suddenly exclaimed.

"What?" the doe asked as the other two of their party exited the house, Gurē with a bright red wind breaker, and Ai with a beautiful blue scarf. "Why?"

"I kinda got band form the auction web site about four years ago!" he admitted.

Judy lowered her ears to her back, "For selling stolen merchandise?" she asked.

Nick, placed his free paw to his chest, "You wound me fluff." he said "It was false advertisement!" The smile didn't leave his face. She knew he was kidding then, though she didn't really know what part was the joke. He was trying to get her to react. She smiled back, and shook her head, turning to Ai and Gurē to joke around, only to find them stunned with amazement and shock. Curiously, she turned back around. Nick stood there, the same smirk on his face, but something shining in his paw. "Nick…" she drawled out, pointing a single claw at the doll in his paws. Smirk still on his face, he turned to the merchandise, and dropped it in shock.

The light grew the moment it hit the ground. Spreading fast as it quickly became close to the same size Nick was, crumpled on the ground. Suddenly it coughed, loudly. A female voice echoing from it, and then it faded. There on the ground lay a heaping mess of orange and white fur covered in black and dark green fabric, the chest convulsing as she coughed. Lifting her head, Nick could see the feline structure, the sharp ears, the short nose. Even the long thin whiskers and two feline tails. She continued to cough as she opened her eyes, those bright baby blue irises shining as the sun hit them. She squinted, letting her eyes adjust to the light, and finally saw the world. "Where am I?" she asked. The houses looked all the same, unfamiliar to her. The ground beneath her was hard, much harder than dirt. Animals wore strange cloths, they all looked at her, fear in their eyes. Quickly she shot up, turning her head to see if there was anything familiar.

"Bakeneko!" she heard the black fox say. The tone in his voce, it frightened her. He looked like a samurai. Samurai scared her. She took steps back to try and slowly escape, but heard an ear shattering screech, and then a loud honking noise. She turned, seeing a large something she had never seen before. Out from its side, stepped an angry animal, tiger.

"Hey!" he shouted, "Are you crazy?"

With panic, she turned. "WAIT!" the red fox shouted, and off she ran. "We gotta find her!" Nick shouted.

"Yah, before she gets hurt!" Judy agreed.

The four of them entered the vehicle as quickly as they could, all four of them quickly buckling up, and Gurē grabbing the back of the seat in front of him as Judy hit the gas pedal as hard as she could. The tires screeched along the ground as she quickly exited the spot on the street, "Nick, get on your phone and call the ZPD! Tell Bogo what happened."

"I'll give him the short version!" Nick responded as he dialed the number.

Back in the office, the large water buffalo was happily waiting at his desk, debating whether to do something or other. In front of him sat a stack of three case files, and off to the side, his phone. Rubbing his chin, he hummed out his dilemma, until the phone vibrated, dancing a short distance on his desk. "Huh?" he asked, and picked it up, looking at the screen as it continued to buzz. With a click of his hoof and a change of his face, he answered, "This had better be good Wilde!"

"Magical emergency chief!" Nick said, "The short is, I bought a doll at a garage sale, and it turned out to be a trapped magical twin tailed cat!"

"What?" Bogo asked in surprise.

"Yah!" Nick shouted, "She's running down side streets, but she'll get to a heavy traffic area real soon. The Sahara Junction!"

"I'll get every patrol car nearby to hold traffic." the chief said.

"They'd better be real close because you've got less than ten minutes." Nick shouted as he pulled out his head from the car to get a better look.

"Stay on the line with me Wilde and keep me updated on her movements!" Bogo ordered.

"Roger that!" the fox said.

Suddenly, Bakeneko darted into traffic, and quickly played dodge car. Darting left and right, she heard honks as she moved from the path of one vehicle to another, before quickly darting down another street that seemed to be clear of those monsters.

"She just went down Holt, as long as she doesn't go down Sear you're good on time!"

"All units in the area of Savana Central, converge at Sahara Junction. Be advised the subject is fast but unarmed." Bogo shouted into his radio. "Clawhouser! I'm going out to see to this mater personally." With that, he lifted himself up, and exited the building.

"Bogo's on his way, let's just try and keep up with her!" Nick said as he shut his phone down and placed it back into his pocket.

"I do not-e think dat will be a problem!" Gurē said as he continued to grip his seat in fear.

"Dis is-e so exciting!" Ai burst out as she giggled.

"Keep on her Carrots!" Nick said as he pointed a clawed finger towards the fleeing feline.

"I got that!" Judy said as she gripped the steering wheel harder.

Suddenly, Bakeneko darted down another street, Judy forced to turn the wheel hard, lifting the car from its two left wheels, until she leveled out, then the vehicle landed back onto all four.

Gurē froze, his eyes wide open as the car leveled out again, "Of course she goes down the one street we don't want her to!" Nick said, and lifted his phone back up, "Chief, she just turned down Sear. Better hurry up!"

"I'm on it!" the large mammal nearly growled.

"Where do you think she came from?" Judy asked.

"She is Yōkai!" Ai said as she smiled from the adrenalin.

"Huh?" Nick asked, "I thought Yōkai were demons, she looks like a panther with that medical condition where you grow a working second tail!"

"It-a is said dat she devoured the head of her house, and den transformed into him to keep from-a being discovered." the doe explained, "Da news was all over Pandan wit in weeks."

"Did anyone ever hear her side of the story?" Judy asked.

"No, she ran from her accuser before de emperor could judge her." Gurē said as his fear began to subside a little.

"Something tells me if all that had actually happened, she wouldn't have been a wooden doll in the first place!" Nick said.

"I'm with you Nick! Something's fishy!" Judy said, and gripped her steering wheel even harder.


	6. Where am I?

**Chapter 6 – Where Am I?**

Judy's tires screeched as she took a sharp turn, tailing the twin tailed feline easily. Bakeneko was crouched down on all fours, gaining speed as she pushed her body to its limit. She only stopped, when she heard the screech of more tires in front of her, and saw the black and white cars with blue and red lights flashing on top, the siren wailing as if an evil spirit crying from the depths of hell. She stopped, lifting herself to her full height, her breath shallow in panic as she watched the lights spin on top of the vehicle. She looked around, caught between two large metal bests and two large walls. "Calm down!" she heard from behind her. She turned, spying a red fox, and a grey bunny step out of the car without lights, both with soft looks in their eyes. Then the samurai stepped out, the fear in his eyes as he exited. Her panic rose again, and she looked around, finding what looked like a ladder. Quickly, she jumped, her legs powerfully springing her up to the balcony as she escaped.

"We gotta stop her!" Judy called out.

"Not this time Hopps!" the doe heard. There in front of her, walked her chief, the water buffalo, Bogo. "You two are still civilians until you're both back on duty, let us handle this for now."

"But…" she began to argue.

"That's an order!" Bogo nearly yelled to her, and rounded the corner to get into the building. Judy simply sighed, Nick placing a paw to her shoulder, neither seeing as Ai and Gurē jumped after her, the samurai bouncing from wall to wall as he ascended to the roof.

Bakeneko landed silently on the roof, not really thinking about where she was, but still running to one of the edges to try and leap again. She stopped, glancing down at the hard street below, several different animals walking together, either talking or not acknowledging each other at all. Buildings that looked to be made from stone, trees, and other materials standing much taller than any she had ever seen. "Where am I?" she finally asked out loud in a very different Pandanise accent, her breathing slowing in both fear and wonder as she looked out towards the city.

"Zootopia!" she heard in Pandanese from behind her. She turned around, a badger standing there in a black and gold monk's robe. But his demeanor told her he was no monk. He leaned against the door that poked out of the roof, his eyes pointed towards the city. "The pit of existence." He turned, glaring at her but still had a sinister smirk on his face.

"The what?" she asked in her native tongue.

The badger then lifted himself from the concrete enclosure, his smirk digging into her mind, "This place, never should have existed, yet it's too late to do anything about it now." he told her, somehow switching to her accented dialect, "I can help you get back home!"

"Home?" she asked, "This isn't Pandan?"

"Not even close!" he told her, and turned as the door behind him burst open.

"Adrian!" he heard the buffalo chief call out. Then, the sound of a dart gun being drawn.

"Chief Bogo!" Adrian drawled in the language the chief could understand as he turned around, "Pleasure to finally meet you." The badger quickly lifted his paw, the center of it glowing a menacing green color. Bogo and the two other police officers with him, a wolf and a hog, all grabbed their throats, and dropped their guns. Bogo opened his eyes, glaring as he choked from the magic, "Unfortunately I don't have time to deal with you. So, I promise to make this quick." His words died as he found himself encased in shadow, looking up only to find the star speckled foot of a black fox slam into his right cheek. "GIiioooof!" he shouted, and spun around, keeping to his paws as he grabbed the injury. With a growl, he lifted his head, "Gurē! Why do you always get in my way?" Adrian then lifted his paw, and brought it down. Bogo and the cops all fell backwards, Bakeneko, pinning herself against the wall as the pressure from the magic spread out like an explosion. Gurē on the other hand, pressed his claws into the stone of the roof, pressing forward as he tightened his grip on the legs of his bunny wife. "I don't have time for this!" Adrian said, and turned to find Bakeneko gone. Only her kimono lying on the ground. With a growl, he turned and jumped from the roof. Gurē dashing forward to follow, but when the fox looked, Adrian had vanished.

"Coward!" the fox growled, and turned back to the toppled police.

Bogo finished coughing, and looked up, "Thanks!" he said, and watched as Gurē smiled, and then turned to leap off of the edge of the building. "I'll never know why they used to do that in ancient Pandan!" the chief said, and turned back to the pile of cloths. "Why would she leave without her cloths?" he asked.

"Can't be that hard to find her, she's got two tails!" Officer Wolford, the wolf, said.

The three of them turned around, vanishing through the door way as something came out from underneath the kimono. A small brown mouse, shaking in fear, peeked out from the fabric, watching Bogo as he and the other two disappeared.

"Can't be that hard!" Nick mimicked with lots of sarcasm. It had been four days since the sighting of Bakeneko, he and Judy were assigned lead investigators, and he was tired of looking for her. "From now on Wolford, you're not allowed to say that phrase!" he shouted across the breakroom floor. The wolf lowered his ears in response.

"Lay off Nick, he didn't know she could change her shape!" Judy said as she lightly slapped his wrist with the back of her paw.

"Still can't believe that's a thing." the fox said, and took a sip of the coffee he held.

"Nick, you saw Adrian reset time thousands of times. You saw Ai soak up all those souls that belonged to her. You saw a painting of a door become a real door. How is it you can't believe that a cat with two tails can change shapes?" Judy asked.

"Just doesn't seem legit, there has to be something to it." he responded.

"This is ancient Pandan, we're talking about Nick!" the doe reminded him, "Secrets lost to everyone, who knows what's real anymore?"

"I'm real!" he responded to her, his signature smile and half laden eyes shining into hers, "Real smart," he continued, "real handsome!"

"Real humble?" she asked jokingly.

"Not to mention childish!" Bogo added in as he lumbered up to the two of them, "Update?"

"No word yet chief. B.O.L.O.'s out again," at this, Nick chuckled, finding the joke in his sentence. Judy smiled at his humor, and smirked at him when the chief place one digit firmly upon Nick's head, as if holding his spinning head in place.

"Focus!" was all the water buffalo said, and Nick coughed to compose himself.

"Sorry sir," the fox apologized, "But we've hit a stand still." Nick told him.

Bogo simply nodded, waiting for Judy to speak up. "Nothing definitive, but we have heard of a few strange robberies. One that included the theft of several food items and no cash. Seems like she's getting hungry." the doe added in.

"Then that's your lead, go interview the clerk that was on duty at the time, see if their description matches with Bakeneko's profile." Bogo said and took a sip from his foam cup.

"You got it chief!" Judy said, and her and her partner turned making their way to the exit.

"Be carefully you two." the chief said as they left the room, and with a mutter continued, "With the stories that Gurē told us, she's even more dangerous when we can't find her."


	7. I'm Scared!

**Chapter 7 – I'm Scared!**

"Excuse me!" Judy said as she entered into the little convenience store. The young mink turned around, gorgeous blue eyes and smooth light brown fur only a few inches taller than Judy, she nervously gave a smile.

When Nick entered, glancing at the mink ones, he pointed a single claw to her and clicked his tongue. When Judy turned to him and narrowed her eyes in a slight anger, he lifted both paws and turned to the rest of the store. "We would just like to ask you a few questions." Judy said, and pulled out her carrot pen and a small note pad as she turned back to the mink.

Nick on the other hand glanced around the store using his memory to replace the damage that had been done. The board up window shattered from the outside, food wrappers strewn out all over the place, and a single bag of chips ripped open with its contents scattered across the floor. Again, in his mind everything went back to where was, the bag of chips being one of the first things to be remove. 'Ok,' he thought to himself, 'Looks like she began with a bag of chips not knowing about the wrapper she bit into it and tore it open to watched the chips spill all over the floor.' Turning again he remembered several bottles of soda had been tossed about. One bit into its contents sprayed all over the glass cooling displays. 'Didn't get the idea of the soda bottle until later.' he thought to himself as he spied what looked like advertisement showing the bottle top removed and an open can with pouring soda, 'But she's learning.' He turned his head only slightly seeing a giant mirror up in the corner, obviously hiding a security camera. 'Wonder what form she took this time?' he asked himself.

"Well I got her statement." he heard Judy say from behind him. When he turned, she still had the look, her violet eyes shining with both anger and a tinge of jealousy.

"What's the matter Carrots?" he asked.

"Not a thing!" she enunciated.

Confusion set into his mind, "OK?" he almost asked, "Bakeneko started over a hear." Pointing his claw at the floor, he moved to the candy, "After exploding a bag of chips, she got the idea of a wrapper and moved her way to the cooler, grabbing snacks along the way."

"That's not a very healthy diet!" Judy said as she watched his finger.

"I doubt she's really concerned about weight right now!" Nick said, and pointed to a single cooler, "Here she bit into a soda bottle and got a surprise when the soda squirted onto her face. She did this a couple more times probably before she looked at this ad and figured you could take the top off." At this he pointed to the advertisement he had seen earlier. "I'm guessing the camera caught it all." he said with confidence, "I don't think she knows about cameras yet."

"Good thinking." Judy said in response, "Let's go take a look." The doe then turned back to the mink, "Do you still have the security footage from last night's robbery?"

"Sure!" the clerk said, "Right through here."

Nick and Judy wasted no time, disk in paw, the moment the two entered the precinct the rabbit doe made a beeline for her desk to quickly accessing the footage as soon as she got to the computer, "How come you always get to control the playback?" Nick asked as he leaned over her and poked his head through her ears, repairing to watched the video alongside her.

"Because it's my computer that's why!" Judy retorted and turned to the screen, "Now let's see…" she quickly moved the footage back, rewinding all the way until she saw the window repair itself. Quickly pushing the play button, the two watched as the window shattered a large something being thrown through it. They couldn't tell what it was, but both were shocked when Bakeneko swooped in from above the break rather than in front of it.

"Oh, wow, she is very naked!" Nick retorted his eyes wide with shock. Judy quickly and lifted her ears placing them strategically in front of his eyes, "Hey, Carrots, I can't see!" he told her.

"And you won't as long as she is the way she is." Judy said a hint of anger in her voice.

"OK Fluff, I get it." Nick said, "You're jealous."

"I am not jealous!" Judy said as she continued to watch the video with her ears still covering Nick's eyes.

"You are!" Nick challenged.

"I'm not!" she retorted.

"Denial!" was all he said.

"I'm not in denial!" the doe said.

"Yes you are, your swimming in it!" Nick told her.

"Can we focus?" Judy asked.

"Not with your ears in my eyes!" he told her, and she dropped her ears, "Thank you!" When he looked back at the video, Bakeneko had vanished and the ZPD vehicle lights were flashing outside. "You're a real big help." he told her with sarcasm in his voice.

"You are not gonna believe this!" she told him and rewound just a little, there he saw Bakeneko just as she finished the last of a large two letter bottle of cola. She quickly dropped it when she heard the sirens and saw the lights as she turned her head. Within seconds it seemed like she vanished.

"OK! What just happened?" the fox asked.

"Watch closely!" Judy said and again rewound the video. When she pushed play the two of them watched until she peeked over the shelf, and quickly slowed the video. It was at that moment when Bakeneko dove for the floor, the two of them watched as her body shrank. Judy paused the video just as it seemed the two tailed cat vanished. "Check this out!" she said and highlighted an area to zoom into. The two of them waited as the program sharpened the still photo, until they could recognize a small brown mouse.

"Whoa! She can turn into something that small?" Nick asked in surprise.

Suddenly Judy hit her desk with her fist, "That's why Bogo couldn't find her earlier."

Nick clicked his claws together, "You mean up on the roof, when we first saw her!" he said in realization.

"Right!" Judy said with glee, "She didn't leave her close behind, she can't change them with her body!"

"But if she turned into a mouse she wouldn't have to, they would cover her and keep her hidden." he said finishing her thought.

"Exactly!" Judy said in excitement.

"OK, so let's assume she's holed up somewhere!" Nick said as he moved Judy aside.

"How you know that?" Judy asked.

"If you were scared, homeless and alone what would you do?" Nick asked her.

Judy thought for a second and clicked her claws, "I'd find shelter, somewhere close to food."

"Close!" Nick told her, "You'd find shelter where no one would find you, then you go hunting for food."

"You're not suggesting that she…" Judy said hesitantly

"Luckily she doesn't have to. There are grocery stores and convenience stores all around Central. What we have to do is take these three robberies," Nick quickly opened up a different program on Judy's computer, and then turned to the file of Bakeneko the two of them had close by, and with mumbled words placed red dots on the three locations he mentioned earlier. "OK, next we searched the area inside here." he told her and highlighted the area between the three dots in blue.

"That's a big area." Judy told him.

"Oh Carrots." he told her, "It's the only big if you don't know what you're looking for." He quickly zoomed in on a single spot, showing Judy a picture of an abandoned apartment building, "It's perfect for her." he told Judy, "No one goes there anymore because it was deemed unlivable. Unfortunately for her, she doesn't know it's been commissioned for demolition sometime this week."

"We have to get her out of there, she could get hurt." Judy said in near panic.

Suddenly Nick held up a set of keys, "I'm driving!" he said quickly and took off.

"HEY!" Judy shouted after them and turned to quickly to shut down her computer before chasing after her fox friend, "That's not fair!"


	8. What Choice is Right?

**Chapter 8 – What Choice is Right?**

Nick pressed his foot as hard against the pedal of the squad car as he could, weaving in between cars that pulled over and others that didn't, "Remind me to give them a ticket for not pulling over for authority!" Nick said calmly to Judy.

"Remind me to give you a ticket for speeding." the doe said in response, her claws nearly embedded into the leather seat.

"I have the siren on!" the fox retorted.

"And you said bunnies were bad drivers!" Judy commented.

"Hey, I'm in a hurry!" Nick told her, and quickly skid to a halt as he finally looked up instead of out, they had arrived at their destination, and outside stood a crew of workers. "What's going on?" he asked as he and Judy hopped out of the vehicle.

"Oh great, you guys made it!" one of the beavers said, "There's this crazy chick inside the building attacking everyone who enters in. Makes all kinds of weird noises."

"What do the noises sound like?" Judy asked.

"Um…I dunno, kinda like…Ah" the beaver said, and turned to the crew, "Hey Jake!" he called out, and a teenage looking otter turned around, "How did that sound she made go again?"

"Uh, like, it was something like, 'Yama tomato' or something." Jake said, obviously not really paying attention.

"There you go, 'Yama Tomato'!" the beaver said, "You gotta get her out, we're about to blast the supports but we can't with her in there."

"Pandanese!" Nick said, and pulled his phone from his pocket, "I got just the translator!"

Back at Nick's apartment, Gurē jumped as the phone rang. He glanced around, from one side to the other, seeing no red fox, he gingerly reached for the device. "Hello?" he asked calmly.

"Sup, G!" he heard Nick ask from the other end.

"Nick-o-san?" the black fox asked.

"Wait, your apartment has a land line?" he heard Judy ask.

"Not important right now?" Nick said, "Is there a word in Pandanese that sounds like Yama Tomato?"

"Is dat Nick-o-san?" the red tod heard from his phone.

"Um, is Ai there with you in **my** apartment?" he asked, Judy chuckling at the turn.

"Yes, de two of us have-e not spent any time together since we awoke from-e de crystal." Gurē retorted.

"Focus you two." Judy told them, "Yama Tomato?"

"Oh, I know dis one, Yameteyo! It is a rude way to say 'get out'!" Ai shouted.

"Uhgh," Nick said, "Ok, stay on the line!" The two of them then looked up, right after a shadow passed over them.

"ADRIAN!" Judy shouted.

"Oh sweet cheese and crackers!" Nick said as the two of them watched the badger land on top of the roof.

"Nick-o-san?" Gurē asked.

"Gotta go!" Nick said quickly, "Adrian just got here, and I think he's trying to get to Bakeneko before us!"

"Nick-o-san?" Gurē asked, "Nick-o-san!" His only response was the disconnected ring tone.

"What is wrong?" Ai asked as the black furred fox gingerly placed the phone back on the receiver.

"We are going to battle!" was all he said.

"Careful Carrots!" Nick whispered as the two of them reached the first solid wall they could find.

"This is Officer Hopps." the doe whispered. Nick turned to her, seeing her lifting her walkie to her mouth."

"This is Clawhouser." the two of them heard, and Judy adjusted her volume so that it didn't project loudly, "What's up Judy?"

"Nick and I have located Bakeneko!" she said.

"That's great!" the chubby officer said.

"But so has Adrian. Nick and I are inside the building to try and reach her before he does."

"What?!" their friend nearly shouted.

"How far off is chief Bogo?" she asked.

"What are you talking about, where are you?" the cheetah asked in return.

"We're in the abandoned apartments in west Savana Central." she told him, "The workers called in a report about a mammal that refused to leave the premises. How far away are they?"

"Uh…" Clawhouser stuttered as he tapped away at his computer, "Five minutes!"

"Great!" Judy said.

"I'll send the Chief out to join them at backing you up!" the cheetah added in.

Judy looked to her partner, then back to the walkie, "We'll work fast!" she said, and placed the device back onto her belt.

"Hopps? Wilde?" Clawhouser asked as he pressed the button on his receiver, "HOPPS?"

"What's going on?" the large cheetah heard from his side. He quickly turned to the voice, a gruff sounding speech with authority behind it. There stood Chief Bogo a very large cup of coffee in his hoof.

"Chief!" Clawhouser said, "Hopps just called, they found Bakeneko!" he said.

"Good, tell the others!" the buffalo said and turned to go back to his office.

"But so has Adrian!" Ben said with alarm. These words alone got Bogo to stop in his tracks, his cup of caffeinated drink just inches from his mouth as the chief let his eyes open wide ins shock. "He's there now, and Hopps and Wilde are trying to reach Bakeneko first."

"What's the chances of them getting to Bakeneko first?" the two of them heard. Clawhouser was the only one to turn, and there stood Wolford. "Not good, Bakeneko speaks Pandanese, but neither Judy nor Nick know much of the language at all! Maybe like three words!"

Suddenly Bogo slammed his cup on Clawhouser's desk, "Wolford, with me!" he ordered, "We've got a few words for Adrian, don't we?"


	9. The Taste of Revenge!

**Chapter 9 – The Taste of Revenge!**

"Nick!" the fox and the bunny heard as the two of them made their way to the first set of stairs. Both had a single dart pistol in their paws, Judy's pointed to the floor, while Nick, leaning against the door, pointed his to the ceiling. Quickly the two of them turned from each other and lifted their guns, sweeping their eyes and a weapon across the room. The two of them then heard the badger chuckle, obviously amused by such action. "Do I frighten you little fox?" Adrian asked, his voice echoing through the room that can figure nowhere to be seen, "Or you little doe? Do you see me in your nightmares?" Another chuckle echoed through the building.

"OK," Nick said with a chuckle of his own, "Very funny Adrian. Come out where we can see you, paws up!"

"Yah!" Judy said in response, "You're under arrest!"

"For what, exactly?" the badger asked.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe a million counts of murder?" Nick responded.

Adrian chuckled again, "Ah, but my young tod, I have only one count of that in this world. And I do believe it was only attempted, and even that cannot be proven."

"Four, actually!" Judy said, "You have four counts of attempted murder." Then turning to Nick, she said, "Sorry Nick, he's right!"

Again, Adrian laughed, this time louder, "I never tire of toying with the two of you." he said, "No matter how many times you try, I cannot be defeated by you."

"Then what really makes you mad, is you can't beat us either." Judy said with a smirk.

Silence fell upon them as the two of them opened the door and climbed the stairs, "I look forward to the day when the two of you will suffer at my claws." he said as the two of them reached the next floor.

"Boy, he's in a cheery mood." Officer Wilde said, and tried turning the doorknob. It shook but did not turn. With a quick glance at Judy the two of them nodded. Nick took two steps back while Judy lifted one of her feet, and just as she kicked the door Nick ran his shoulder into it, the force tearing the door from its frame. The fox quickly recovered, sweeping his dart gun up crossed the hallway with the tip of his dart and his eyes. The two of them scanned the hall eyeing each door for movement before taking a step suddenly Judy's ears swiveled, a small sound catching her attention.

"This way!" she whispered to her partner, and took several silent steps as she made her way to an apartment four doors down. Nick nodded, and silently followed her. The closer he got the more he could hear the voices both in a language he did not fully understand, Pandanese. Without a word, Judy looked to him a single eyebrow lifted in confusion. His only response was a shrug of both his shoulders.

Outside the complex, the workers could only chat amongst themselves, only guessing at what could be going on inside. The chatter only stopped at the sound of sirens. Quickly the lot was overrun with several large police vehicles, one of them revealing the police chief himself, Bogo. With a point of hooves, he began giving orders to the other officers. "Humps, Joe, Spitz! Keep an eye on the front." he said to a camel, a jaguar and a llama. "Delgato, Trunkaby, and Anderson, guard the left, no one in no one out! Fangmire, Higgens, Snarlof, take the rear of the building. Link, Adam, and Grizzoli, take the right! Wolford with me, the rest of you secure the perimeter."

"You-e won't succeed!" the water buffalo heard as the officers split into their assigned teams. He slowly turned, and there, standing just at the entrance of the demolition sight, stood Gurē, his bunny wife on his back and his swords at his side.

"This isn't up for discussion!" Bogo said and waved the black fox off, "You two are civilians."

"Not-e yet we are not!" Ai said, "Besides, you-e cannot understand her! She speaks-e Pandanese, not-e your language."

With a sigh, Bogo rubbed his face, "You two are just like Hopps and Wilde." He murmured, and then turned back to them, "Alright, but you have to leave your swords here, I can't have you fighting Adrian at the drop of a hat."

Gurē and Ai both looked at each other, confusion in their eyes, but both shrugged anyway. The black spotted fox lowered the doe to the ground gently, before pulling the two blades from his belt and handing them to the jaguar. "Do not damage dem!" he said darkly to the animal, and placed them both into the jaguar's paws. Then, he knelt down, pulling his arms through his sleeves before slipping them through the openings at his shoulders.

"What are you doing?" Bogo asked as he watched Ai tie what was supposed to be Gurē's belt around his arms and tied the sleeves to his back.

"It is tradition!" was all she said, and climbed back onto his shoulders.

"Remember, you are just interpreters, translators!" Bogo told them.

"Hai!" Gurē said, and took the steppes he needed into the site.

Nick, pinned his ear to the wall, listening to the gibberish that went on in the other room. The only thing clear, was that they were arguing, and that Bakeneko was losing. Turning to his partner, he could see the impatience in her eyes as she glanced at the doorknob. So, with a shake of his head, he reached up, and placed his paw to the door. Judy then lifted herself from the wall, and stood in front of the closed portal, her fox friend readying his dart gun as he twisted his wrist and opened the door.

"FREEZE!" Nick shouted as he entered in, quickly pulling the paw on the door to his gun.

Judy took one small leap and stood in front of him, pointing her gun in the opposite direction, "You're under arreh…" her voice trailed off as the two of them lowered their guns, they expected to see the inside of a deserted apartment, instead, the found what looked to be a village, and old village.

Bamboo walls with solid clay shingled roofs, sliding paper doors with walls lined with the same. All around it seemed like animals of all kinds walked amongst themselves, not an argument to be seen. Each male wearing a robe similar in shape to what they remembered Gurē to wear and with looked to be a knot of long fur atop their heads, and the females with a kimono like that of Ai.

"How does he keep doing this?" Nick asked in shock. He looked down, seeing and feeling grass beneath his paws, "It's bit more detailed this time."

Not a word was spoken as the two of them traveled through the fields, making their way towards the village. "Is that rice?" Judy asked as she looked to the growing stalks.

"Huh." Nick said and moved on.

The two then heard a laugh, a very familiar laugh. "Adorable!" Adrian said as he watched the two of them wave their guns, looking for him. "The two of you think you can just come in here and arrest me?" he asked, Judy realizing that his voice came from all around them.

"Why not make this easy on yourself?" she asked, "The more you resist the heavier the sentence will be."

"I doubt that." Adrian quickly said, and added in, "Because I doubt you could get any of the unbelievable accusations you have to stick."

"He's right Carrots!" Nick said, and heard a stone roll across more, their ears swiveled, their backs stiffened and they turned around, "Oh." the fox drawled. A crowd of angry looking villagers; sheep, pigs, and deer, marched towards them.

"Sweet Cheese and Crackers!" she whispered finishing Nick's thought.


	10. Is This a New World?

**Chapter 10 – Is This a New World?**

Adrian continued to laugh as Nick and Judy ran, the two of them trying desperately to escape the angry villagers. "What did we do to deserve this?" Nick asked as they ran. Suddenly, just after they ran past a thick part of the woods, Judy jumped into a bush, grabbing his paw in the middle of the jump, and pulled him with her. The two vanished quickly, both staying perfectly still as they held onto each other.

The villagers began speaking in Pandanese, the two mammals freezing in place as the boar looked to the goat. Then with a grunt, he led them down the path. As soon as Judy could no longer hear their hoof steps, she slowly exited the bush and exhaled a breath she hadn't known she was holding, followed timidly by her partner, "What the heck?" Nick asked as he placed a paw to his chest, "What was that about? We just got here."

Judy simply shrugged her shoulders, then the two turned towards the path they had just taken. Glancing towards the villagers once, they decided to leave before they came back.

Back in the building, the chief didn't hesitate at all, ducking and turning to the side, he easily slid through the thin door frame, and looked around. He could easily see the disturbed part of the ground, spying where Judy and Nick had been hiding earlier, and with a grunt, made his way further in, followed closely by his teammates, Wolford the wolf, Ai the bunny and Gurē the black fox with white stars spattered on his fur. With a grunt, he moved forward, some hast in his step but also an air of caution. He heard Wolford sniff the air, "Hey!" he said, getting the attention of all three of them, "They went up there." As soon as he finished talking, he pointed a single claw towards the door leading to the stairs.

"I'll never fit in there!" Bogo said as he gestures to the thin stair well.

Gurē smiled, "Too-eh bad chief!" he said.

"Not a chance Kitsune!" the large buffalo said as he pointed a hoof to the fox, thinking that the use of the tod's last name would seal the deal, "You're not going up there without me!"

"Chief we might not have time to argue." Wolford said in response, "We need to get to Hopps and Wilde before Adrian decides he's not going to play fair."

With a simple growl, he turned, "Wolford, when you find them, signal me from the window, I'll see what I can do from there." Then with a quick point of his hoof, he spoke again, this time with unmistakable authority, "Keep an eye on these two!"

"Yes sir!" the wolf said as he saluted the chief of police, then the three of them scaled the stairs as Bogo turned and exited the door.

Judy and Nick once again ran, but this time ad a slower pace. The two reaching the edge of the woods quickly, and glancing around, "Well played!" they heard from everywhere, "You were able to escape a mob of angry and scared villagers." Nick could easily hear the sarcasm that dripped from every word.

"Yah, too bad!" Nick said with a cocky smile. Then in silence he picked up his bunny friend, and dashed forward, quickly entering into the now empty village. With a slink and a smooth duck, he entered underneath one of the houses that was raised up from the ground, built on noticeably uneven ground. He gently set her on the ground and peeked out the other side of the floor he hid underneath, "What is going on?" he asked himself, and turned to Judy, "Got any plans? I'm fresh out."

"You get us into the village, and you don't have a plan?" Judy hissed in a whisper.

"Hey, let's not forget it was your idea to switch the serum for the blueberry, it was also your idea that saved our tails when Adrian was going to use his staff again. Face it, Fluff, you're better at planning than I am." His grin was infectious, and at the same time frustrating, he had effectively placed her in charge while avoiding a complete insult to himself at the same time.

With a sigh, and a smile, she gave in, "Fine," she said, "What did you see out there?"

"Well, behind the house is more housed, and something I can only guess is restaurant of some kind." he told her.

"What kind of restaurant?" she asked.

"How am I supposed to know?" the fox said, "The kind that has two entrances and steam. Probably vegetables or something."

Judy simply shook her head, "Well, the entire village is out there hunting us, let's head to the restaurant and make our way from there."

With that, the two of them peeked again, and bolted from underneath the house. Keeping the buildings between them and the villagers, they ducked into the closest door of the restaurant. With a turn, Judy peeked out of the sliding wooden and paper door, and backed away slowly as she slid it the rest of the way shut. "I don't think they saw us!" she said and turned, seeing cubbies and baskets rather than tables. Nick also looked around, seeing a what looked like a piece of fabric. "What kind of restaurant is this?" Judy asked, as she and Nick moved past the curtain.

"This isn't a restaurant." Nick said softly as his ears lowered down and eyes widened. There in the steam, he and Judy could see five females, two sheep, an albino bunny and two doe deer, each of them bathing. Nick quickly gulped nervously, but for some reason, couldn't turn away, until Judy pushed him. When he looked to her, he could tell she was fuming, how long had he been staring at the girls. "I'll go and check out the other side!" he said quickly, and took off, quietly sliding the door open and shut as he made his way to the other side of the bath house. "What's wrong with you Nick!?" he whispered to himself harshly, "I don't know, how was I supposed to know this was a bath house, I thought it was a restaurant!" he answered the thought. "Great, now I'm arguing with myself!" With a sigh, he placed his paw to his forehead, and leaned against the cubbies, all of them empty. "How am I so bad at saying three stupid words?" he asked, "I've been trying for days now, why can't I just tell her? It shouldn't be that hard. 'Judy, I love you!' See, easy right, but no! Every time, and the longer I put it off, the more I screw up! Like just now! I'm just…" he couldn't even finish his sentence, he had no words for how badly he was doing. "Why is this so hard?" he finally asked himself, and reached for the curtain, parting it just enough so he could see into the actual bath. Some steam still hung in the air, like it had just recently been used. He sighed again, and this time, let the curtain close, "Now what?" he asked, "Think Nick!"

Wolford and the two Pandanese couple quickly made it up the stairs, seeing the door open on the second floor, Wolford snuck forward, peering into the world, and was quickly overcome with awe. He then heard Gurē say something, but couldn't understand it, until his wife, Ai, responded in the same language. "Hey!" he whispered, "Speak so that I can understand you!"

"Dis is Dark Magic!" Ai said, "Something even we of da ancient-o bunny island didn't know about."

"You mean you can't do something like this?" Wolford asked.

"No." Gurē said, "And if she cannot-o do dis, den Adrian cannot-o do dis, not by himself."

"Not by himself?" Wolford asked as they moved to the room next to the new world, "But didn't he make that timeless world before?"

"Dat was wit the power of-e de Chrono Stone." Ai told him, "An artifact dat was destroyed-o centuries ago. How did he re-forge it?"

"He did not!" Gurē said with confidence, "I had to have been given to him by dat doragon."

"A dragon?" Wolford asked as he opened the window in the nearby room.

"De same-e doragon dat trapped us in-e dat crystal." the black fox told him.

"You two have a lot of explaining to do!" they three of them heard from outside the window.

There, level with the window, arm leaning against the open sill, stood Bogo.

Gurē let his nerves fray, he had never seen a water buffalo fly before, and he was pretty sure they were a good twenty or so feet off the ground. Ai on the other hand, jumped off of the fox's back, and leaned on the sill itself. "How-e are you doing dat?" she asked and looked down. Bogo, stood straight up in a metal contraption she hadn't seen before, it had a metal arm that bent in the middle and at the vehicle. It was colored orange, and had a platform where Bogo stood, the platform fitted with short guard rails that were chipped painted white. "Ahhh!" she said in awe as she leaned further forward, curiosity overtaking her common sense. She slipped, sliding forward until the large buffalo grabbed her by the back of the kimono.

"What dragon?" Bogo asked as he placed her inside the room, and then began to climb in himself.

"De black-a doragon dat I battled centuries ago." Gurē said as his nerves came back to him.

"Chief!" Wolford said, catching Bogo's attention, "You have to see this." The wolf then waved his paw to the buffalo, urging the chief of police towards the open door to glance into the door they knew Judy and Nick had gone into.

"This might take a while." Bogo said, his eyes opening wide in surprise.


	11. My Biggest Problem!

**Chapter 11 – My Biggest Problem!**

Gurē and Ai glanced around, his bunny wife sitting on his back again as he held her up, "This place seems familiar." she said to her fox husband in her native language.

"Agreed." he responded in using the same language.

"I don't need you two speaking sweet nothings to each other." Chief Bogo said to them, "Please refrain from speaking Pandanese until translation is necessary."

"Apologies Chief-e Bogo." Gurē said, responding for both himself and his wife. The four of them began to move forward, Gurē and Ai holding a small amount of nervous energy while Bogo walked forward with confidence and Wolford keeping his eyes and ears open.

Suddenly, the wolf began sniffing the air, "Hmm?" he asked himself, and then began looking around.

"What is it Wolford?" Bogo asked as he glanced back.

"There's no wind." the officer said.

Gurē and AI both looked at him in surprise, and then looked in opposite directions while glancing at the sky. "So?" Bogo asked, "How does that help us find Hopps and Wilde?"

"Chief, there's no wind!" Wolford repeated, "No air movement. But there's a sun."

"Exactly what are you saying?" Bogo asked.

"There's no air movement." Wolford repeated, hopping the buffalo would get it the third time around. When the chief looked at him with impatience, he knew it would take some more explaining, "Look, when wind blows it churns the air, keeping things fresh and replenishing the oxygen. The air here is still, nothing's moving. That means that the air here is just as limited as if it were in a sealed box."

"Are you saying…" Bogo asked as his look moved from frustrated to worry.

"That's right chief, there's no telling how much air is still here, we don't have that much time to find Hopps, Wilde, Bakeneko and Adrian."

Bogo grunted in frustration, "Hopefully Hopps and Wilde are on their way to Bakeneko."

"Chief?" Wolford asked.

"Adrian can wait, the lives of the innocent come first." the buffalo responded.

"Den, you two will let us lead." Ai suddenly said. Bogo and Wolford turned to them, seeing Ai on the ground next to her husband. Her left paw gripping his right sleeve while the fox had his paws hidden in his sleeves.

"Excuse me?" Bogo asked.

"We-e know dis place." AI responded before Bog could argue further.

"Hai!" Gurē said in response, "Dis is the capitol city of-e our time, our ancient Pandan." he said with focus, and then with a bit of longing, "Our home."

In response, Ai lifted her right paw, and wrapped it around his arm, hugging the appendage tightly, "We can-e lead you to de capitol. Dat is where I believe Bakeneko will be."

"What makes you think that?" Bogo asked.

"Nick-o-san got-e me thinking. What is de one thing she wants more den anything?" Gurē asked.

"I don't know, I don't speak Pandanese!" Bogo said with a huff.

"To be left alone?" Wolford asked.

Gurē shook his head, "Justice." he responded, "De things that happened to her, they were done by some-e one who didn't want to be caught. De Emperor is de judge in our world, so to his palace we go." With that, the black speckled fox turned and removed his paws from his sleeves, pointing straight at a large temple with bright red trim and what looked like gold accents and statues of ancient dragons. It sat atop a large hill, overlooking all of the land beneath it.

"We have to go there?" asked Bogo, and then gripped his belt, "Well, better get on it then!" he said, and the group heard the murmuring of a group approach them.

"I can't believe we lost them!" one of the villagers said as they approached the bend in the forested road.

"Hey, we were following you!" said another, just as they rounded the bend, "Hey, look!" said the monkey like creature, "More of them funny looking demons."

The pair, a monkey and a ram, approached with torches ready and a crowd behind them. They did not expect, however, for Bogo himself to stomp his way up to them, anger etched into his face as he clenched his hooves into fists and cracked his neck. The crowd slowed as he approached them, and he soon lifted his arms, slamming one fist into an open hoof, and cracked his knuckles, loudly. "RUN!" the monkey shouted, and the entire group turned to run away.

Bogo grunted, and turned back to the group, "Well come on!" he ordered as he passed them entirely.

"I knew he was good for something!" Gurē said in Pandanese.

"I said 'NO Pandanese'." Bogo called back.

Judy sat in the corner of the bath house, steam surrounding her as she watched some of the other girls, trying hard to mimic them as they sat there and bathed. She wanted not to draw attention to herself. She knew nothing of the culture here, but most of her worries dismissed themselves early on in her attempt to blend in. Soaking wet but warm, she had sat there for some time, mostly just listening. Nick had been quiet lately, no splash of water, no goofing around. Just quiet. She hadn't meant to get frustrated, ok angry beyond reason, at her fox. It just happened sometimes. She had kissed the mammal on the lips, she should know what that meant right? With a sigh, she patted herself down, and rose from her sitting position. Only now did she finally hear it, the silence. She turned, the other girls had gone, disappeared. 'When had they left?' she asked herself, and made her way to the exit. A towel, sitting in front of her, fresh and folded. She wondered a little until the curtain moved, and she caught the smallest of glimpses of a fluffy red tail disappear into the men's side. With a smile, and her anger nowhere in sight, she smiled, and grabbed the towel to wrap it around her waist.

"Are you ready?" he asked from inside the men's bathing room.

"Just about." he heard the doe bunny say. "Where did you get this?"

"Oh, turns out, they have fresh ones near the other side of the building, and some clean cloths."

Judy was surprised a little, and turned her eyes again to the cubby at her side. There, sitting inside, was a light blue kimono, a dragon design wrapping around the shoulder, across the back, and down to the base on the other side etched with exquisite workmanship. Another smile found her features, and she put it on. "Ok," she said, "I'm done!" She twirled a bit as she looked herself over, and didn't even notice when Nick came out from the bath.

"You look beautiful." he said, and she let a small, mischievous smile cross her lips.

She turned, and before she could say another word, she let her jaw drop. Nick stood there, a darker blue male kimono wrapped around him, and white hakama pants. She could tell that underneath it all, he still had his officer's uniform on underneath, but then, so did she. "Wow!" was all she said, her mind reeled with the image of him in this garb.

"I was trying to find a green one with banana trees on it, but this was all they had for me." he said slyly.

"No," she said, "You look great!"

"Thanks!" he said, and pushed his words as hard as he could, "You look beautiful in that!" he said. 'Dang it!' he thought, though his face never changed from that sly grin, "So close."

"Thank you!" she said, and watched as Nick lifted his arm to her.

"To the castle my lady?" he asked in a gentlemanly fashion.

"Why yes, my handsome fox!" she told him, and bowed. Now Nick was curious as to why she hadn't taken his arm, "It's tradition for the man to walk in front of the woman." she told him.

"You've been taking a lot with Ai, haven't you?" he asked and lead the way out of the bathhouse, turning towards the large building on top of the hill. "We've got some ways to go." he said, just as Judy tied her ears behind her head.

"Yah," she agreed as she glanced around him, "I just hope that we can fit in enough to get close."

"Yah." Nick said, "Because if we don't, I doubt we'd be able to leave this place. Something just doesn't feel right here!"


	12. What Honor Is Mine?

**Chapter 12 – What Honor is Mine?**

Nick and Judy had been walking a while, the only animals left inside the village were women it appeared, and each was either shopping, or hiding, maybe cleaning the house. "Why don't any of the females work around here?" the doe asked in a whisper.

"Because it is part of their culture that the man does the work while the woman takes care of the house and family." her fox said as a matter of fact. Judy simply leaned around him, glancing at his face, "What? You're not the only one who's been learning form their roommate." he told her with his signature grin. Judy just smiled, and returned to her posture.

She was surprised when she was quickly surrounded by a few women; a bunny, a ram and a monkey, each talking in Pandanese and each talking quickly with a slight bit of panic in their voices. Nick turned around, surprise in his eyes as they chatted with Judy in a language neither one of them could understand, and was surprised again when the three females turned to him, and acted like they were protecting Judy. "Uh?" he stuttered as he watched them. Shock once again took him when one of them, the bunny, pulled a knife shaped a little like Gurē's swords out from the left sleeve of her dress. His instincts took over, and he reached for his dart gun, only to realize it wasn't where he normally puts it. One of the other girls began talking again, with a small bit of panic as she glanced to the bunny with the knife, only to get a gruff and angry response from the girl holding the knife. Before anyone could do anything, the girl lunged, shoving the knife right into Nick's chest.

"NICK!" Judy called out as the tod fell to the ground. The girl chuckled a little, then said something in Pandanese, and turned around. Judy dashed forward, and punched the girl right between the eyes. The knife in her paw fell to the ground, and so did she. A crumpled lump of unconscious bunny flopped to the ground. The monkey gasped and placed her hands to her mouth in surprise while the ram simply looked at Judy with a hint of pride and admiration. Judy quickly rose to her feet, and made her way to the fallen fox. "Nick?" she asked in worry.

"Ow!" he grunted in pain, "That hurt!" When he turned around, the tear in his kimono had no blood, "Cliché I know, but really effective." he said and moved the fabric of his kimono. There, under his robes, hung pinned to his uniform was his badge, a large scar gouged into the metal on the right side. Judy sighed in relief, and wrapped her arms around her fox.

"I'm glad you're ok." she told him.

"And my instincts tell me that I should be glad I didn't play dead." he retorted as he found his way to his feet.

"if you had done that, I'd have never let you live it down." she said, and wrapped her arms around him. He simply patted her head, with a smile, before wrapping her in a large embrace before she could escape.

"We should probably get going." Nick said, and gently released her as she helped him up. The two walked away, Judy smiling brightly as she followed next to him instead of behind him.

"Where do you think Bakeneko is?" Judy asked suddenly as they exited earshot of the three girls.

"My guess…" he said and lifted one of his paws, pointing a clawed digit towards the large building at the top of the hill, "…There!" Judy looked to the building, then to Nick, hoping he'd explain his answer. He didn't make a sound until after he saw the look in her eyes, "Everything she did out there pointed towards someone who's lost, scared and alone. She'll want to be as close to home as she can get. And what better way of making sure you never have to go back than being in charge of the home you want?"

Judy looked to the building, her eyes focused and her mind processing the small bits of information her partner had just told her. Without a word, she nodded before following him in the direction he had just pointed.

Bogo marched his way along, following Gurē closely as the black fox and his grey bunny wife moved their way through the streets. "I hope you know what you're doing." the large buffalo asked as he looked up and spotted the palace atop the hill. It looked closer, but he wasn't really looking forward to the climb.

"Hai!" Gurē said simply.

Bogo placed his hoof to his face in exasperation. "I think that means yes." Wolford said in response. They four of them looked up when they heard an angry female voice trying desperately to be comforted by the worried voices of two other women. Suddenly, the angry one said something strict, something that got the other two to quiet down, and Gurē and Ai to gasp in surprise. "What's going on?" the wolf asked.

"Dey mentioned a red fox and a bunny." Ai said to the two police. The four of them ran as quickly as they could. Rounding the steaming building and spotting the bunny on the ground, a black eye forming under her fur. There next to her was a monkey and a ram. Again, the bunny angrily spoke in Pandanese. Bogo could only guess that it happened to be something upsetting, because seconds later, Ai turned her angry voice to the bunny.

"Ai just-e said dat it is unfair to accuse all foxes of being-e malicious and dishonorable." Gurē told the two that had trouble understanding. The other bunny then shot another set of angry words at Ai, only to have Ai get angrier at the doe and shout something. Gurē then looked to his wife with surprise and scolded her in Pandanese.

"What did she say?" Wolford asked.

"You don't-e want to know!" was what the fox responded. When Gurē turned back to the two, Ai was biting the other girl's ear while the doe tried desperately to claw at her while trying to pull her ear free. Gurē was about to intervene when the other two spoke up, the monkey quickly speaking to him and the ram pointing to the palace. With a nod, he turned to the two cops, "Dey said-e dat Judy-san and Nick-o-san made their way to de palace, de same as we are."

"Well, that's a relief. Now if you could get your wife under control…" Bogo said, and watched as Gurē suddenly said something. The words seemed drawn out, almost as if he were telling a child that the car was leaving. Ai stood up from the fight, a hand in the air, and a cheer to her voice as she responded. With short steps, she made her way, slightly battered, to her husband. "Uh…" the chief said in surprise, and turned to walk away.

"Pandanese animals sure are weird." Wolford said as he followed close by.


	13. This is Why We're Here!

**Chapter 13 – This is Why We're Here!**

Judy kept smiling as she walked. Her shoulder touching Nick's elbow once in a while. Her smile shined as the sun, and her mind spinning with happiness. Suddenly she felt his elbow again and turned to him. He walked, a frustrated expression on his face as he grabbed his sleeve and tried to reach his arm inside, but the fabric crumpled and he sighed again. With a simple giggle, Judy looked at him, "What are you doing?" she asked.

"I can't figure out how Gurē folds his arms inside his sleeves." Nick told her.

Again, she giggled, and reached up to his arm, "You know you don't have to do that right?" she asked.

"Yah, but I want to!" he said.

"Then just slip each arm underneath the kimono, not the hakama." she told him. He did, his paws disappearing underneath the fabric of his kimono.

Nick narrowed his eyes in disgust, "Now I just feel stupid." he said, and again Judy giggled, this time quietly, so as not to make him feel even more powerless. "Question." he said, catching her attention, "Why did they build the palace up on top of such a tall place?"

Judy turned from him, and looked in front of her, the stair case that led to the temple had to have almost a thousand steps. Her ears, though tied at the back of her head, fell even further. They tucked themselves tightly against the back of her skull as she glanced up the incredibly long and winding stair case. "Oh, sweet cheese and crackers." she whispered to herself.

"I'm with you!" Nick responded in kind, "But how do we get past the guards?"

Judy looked down from the palace and found that at the first check point, there sat two heavily armored samurai. They looked huge, even as the knelt there with their feet tucked underneath them. Helmets and masks that looked like demons hiding their faces so they knew nothing of what they were. Armor with shoulders that lifted more than half way up their heads, and on their backs, sat two very different weapons. One, a large spear like weapon with a large crescent blade at the tope and a sharp spear head at the bottom. The handle was almost as thick as Nick's arm, and wrapped in red and white wraps of fabric, each piece tailing off of the end just before the spear head. The other, a large club, balls of metal lining each of its six sides and its handle wrapped haphazardly in brown leather. It was easily longer than even the warrior using it. "Well, we could try just waking past them." she said, and the two of them began walking forward. They hadn't moved while they approached, so she was confident, all the way up until the two weapons crossed right in front of them. It wasn't just that, they were there before she even knew they were. She would have walked into them if she hadn't heard them first. The two guards spoke equally, each saying the same Pandanese words the other did. The fox and the bunny both backed up, each intimidated by now far the two weapons could reach and how fast the two guards could wield them. Judy looked at both of them, though the spear reached further, the two still crossed right in front of them. Both guards gripping the end of their weapons, reaching with only one hand the full length of their reach.

"I have no idea what they just said, so what do we do now?" Nick asked.

"I see them!" Wolford shouted as he pointed a single claw to the palace stairs. Bogo, Gurē and Ai all looked up, seeing a defensive standing Judy and Nick, almost ready to start fighting.

"Not good!" Bogo said as he started picking up the pace.

"Do you think they know about the whole limited air thing?" Wolford asked.

"I doubt it!" Bogo said, "Neither of them has the patience or whiskers to detect that."

"Actually, I could smell the stale air." the wolf corrected.

"The point still stands, they don't know how much trouble they are really in." Bogo said, and again picked up his pace.

"Get on!" the two police heard Gurē say, and seconds later, felt the wind rush by as he moved almost twice as fast as they did.

"What did they teach animals to do a thousand years ago?" Bogo asked, and the two of them again picked up their pace, running just a little faster.

"You take the one on the right, I'll take the one on the left." Nick told her.

"What makes you think you can take on a samurai that size?" Judy asked.

"Hey, I had to take on a rhino with Boxing Gloves in training." he told her.

"I did to, we all did. But that rhino didn't have armor and a weapon that could cleave a mountain…or one that can flatten a mountain." she retorted.

"True." he said, and smiled, "But I can take one of them."

"Right, once I'm done, I'll help you, just don't die ok?" she said with a smile. Once she decided to move, it was almost over. A black fox with white stars on his fur and a green kimono on came flying in, and with a swift kick to the side of the head of the samurai with the club, knocking the behemoth down to the ground. Then, in a fit of Pandanese words, he spoke to the last remaining one.

"Why would you forego your honor and attack those that would pay homage to the emperor?" he asked.

The giant looked to him in surprise, then narrowed those eyes before laughing darkly. In the same Pandanese language he began talking, his voice echoing and deep, "What does a traitor like you know of honor. Yours was lost when you deserted your post."

Gurē growled angrily as he let his wife down, cracked his neck and put up his fists. He was stopped after he took his first step, a large hoof placing itself on his shoulder not only demanded respect, but also his attention. Bogo stood there, focus on his face as he glanced at the samurai as big as he was, "Take Ai, Wolford, Hopps and Wilde and go fetch Bakeneko!" he said with a sternness that shook the earth.

"But…" the black furred fox said, and was quickly interrupted by the buffalo.

"We haven't the oxygen to argue, nor do we have enough for you to fight for half an hour. Besides, you're supposed to be interpreters." the chief said, flexing his arms and pounding a fist into his open hoof. Gurē stopped, closed his eyes in defeat, and nodded.

"I-e wish to see you safe when we leave dis-e place." The fox said, and picked up his wife again, jumping over fallen warrior, and quickly followed by the other three. Bog watched closely as the samurai eyed them all as they passed by. He turned back to the buffalo when he heard the sound of metal scraping against stone, and watched as Bogo lifted the other samurai's club to his shoulder. Yes, it took two hooves to do so, but Bogo didn't even seem to grunt from the effort.

"Your world," the chief said, "your rules. Do you want to surrender quietly?"

The giant warrior glared at him, and he glared back, each one's eyes focused on the other, until the samurai moved. His large spear thing flying forward for the kill. Bogo, then brought down the club, slamming it into the blade, and knocking it down harmlessly to the ground. Though the beast still held on, his eyes shone wide, surprise then a kind of happy excitement washing over him. In words Bogo could not understand, the samurai laughed, and then pulled his spear back. With a raised eyebrow, Bogo watched as the samurai once again prepared and attack. With a short grunt of a heave, Bogo lifted the club over his head, and charged, both with a war-cry that shook the land.


	14. What Do I See?

**Chapter 14 – What Do I See?**

Gurē ran forward, Ai on his back with Wolford, Judy and Nick close behind him. "Is the chief really going to try to take on that big guy?" Nick asked as they ran up the stairs.

"I guess we just have to trust him." Judy told the red fox and chanced a quick glance behind her. She watched Bogo slam the club into the ground right as the samurai moved to the side, and just as quickly, he lifted his weapon up, blocking the blade of the giant before once again swinging across the warrior's chest. She closed her eyes and turned back to the front before once again starting her run, quickly catching up to Nick as they made it to the second level. Suddenly, Wolford stopped. Gurē turned after a few steps, turning as he and Ai looked to him questioningly.

"Someone's here!" he said.

Nick and Judy slowly came up behind him, "How can you tell?" Nick asked.

"The guy's scent is all over this place, so he's close." the wolf said.

"How do you know it's not just a smell from the nearby town?" Judy asked.

"Because there's no wind." was all he said.

Judy, and Nick finally stopped, and looked around, "He's right." Judy said. She stopped her gaze, looking straight at one of the pillars of the entrance. She squinted hard, and jumped back when a pair of eyes opened up. She tripped, her foot catching the edge of her kimono and forcing her to topple over. The eyes suddenly lunged at her; and with a scream, she closed her eyes. She was surprised when the strike never came. Instead, when she opened her eyes, she found Gurē, once again, paws gripping the wrists of an assailant wrapped in red cloths.

"A NINJA?" Nick shouted, "THEY HAVE A NINJA?"

Judy felt the paws of Ai as the other bunny lifted her up. "We-e have to go!" she said as she lifted Judy up. The ninja grunted as he watched his quarry escape to the far side of the great stairs. With a turn, he looked into his opponent's eyes, the amber lights glaring into his own almost black pits. With a lunge again, the ninja slammed his head into that of the lone samurai, and jumped when the fox released him. He reached in his leap, his clawed paws reaching for Judy as she ran from him, only to be surprised when Wolford turned and jumped, slamming his shoulder into the cloaked figure, and dropping him to the ground.

"GO!" the wolf shouted, and the two bunnies and the red fox took off, making their way up the stairs as quickly as they could. Again, the ninja grunted, and slammed his elbow into the top of Wolford's head, before jumping again, and quickly getting kicked in the head.

"Who are you?" Gurē asked in his native language.

"Uh!" he heard Wolford groan, "He's going to pay for that!"

Suddenly, the two of them heard the ninja chuckle. Then, in Pandanese, he spoke, "Never have I been struck twice, even if it was by two different opponents." And with glee in his eyes, void of empathy, deprived of everything except bloodlust, "I will enjoy our fight.

"What'd he say?" Wolford asked.

"He wants to fight us." the black fox said.

"Fine with me." Wolford said and smiled. The three of them glared, grinning, each for a different reason.

Judy and Nick kept running, Ai leading the way in front of them. Without looking back, the three of them heard the loud and echoing battle cry the three of them shouted as they began their miniature war. Neither of them looked back as they made their way quickly up stair after stair.

"Why is this happening?" Judy asked in a slight panic. Her nerves were starting to get away from her as she held her kimono up while running. Ai seemed to have the idea, growing up with the garment, she knew how to get the most speed out of her situation. Judy on the other hand, had almost tripped twice before deciding to just lift up the garment and kick off the wooden sandals in favor of her bare feet. They moved as quickly as they could, Ai up ahead as she led the two up the stairs. When she got to the top, it only took a second before she found the next two warriors, and with a quick jump, she placed herself in the middle, before stretching her paws to each side as the swordsman tried to attack. Now it was surprise that took over when Judy saw this, from the pads on Ai's palms, a glowing light appeared, and quickly exploded with force, knocking both warriors down in a single move. Nick then quickly scooped Judy into his arms, focusing on the open path ahead as the three of them moved past the unconscious guards. No words were exchanged, even as they scaled the rest of the stairs like this. It was at the top, where they stopped, Ai and Nick breathing heavily as they tried to catch their breath. Judy was gently set down on the ground before her fox fell to his knees, trying hard to catch a breath that he could barely find.

Judy finally let what she saw enter her mind, though it was harder to understand than she had thought. "How did you do that?" she asked as she turned to the other bunny.

Ai looked to her, breath still heavy as she tried to let her aching legs rest, "Do what?" she asked.

"Do what?" Judy repeated, "You knocked those guards out without touching them. How did you do THAT?"

"I-e used my chi!" Ai said, her breath a little more under control.

"You did the same thing to Adrian, didn't you?" the two heard Nick ask, "In that little pocket world he made. You used your chi to knock him down."

"Hai!" she responded as the two of them rose up, "Though it took a great deal more energy when I didn't have-e ten thousand souls worth of chi."

"Hey, that was Adrian's fault." Nick said, and patted the girl on the head. Nick then walked up and placed his paws on Judy's shoulders, "Are you alright?"

"Physically, yah." she replied in a hushed tone, "But mentally, I'm a bit frazzled. First, a Ninja, should have seen that coming. Then Ai and her chi, I've never seen an animal do that before!"

She was still talking when Nick wrapped his large arms around her, tucking her safely in his embrace. He didn't have to say a word, instead she stopped, her mind freezing as she remembered this touch, this smell, and quickly, her mind calmed, her heart stopped racing, and she found herself leaning into that same embrace, her tears finally starting to fall as she let her emotions loose from her mental cage. She had come in this world seeking to bring Adrian to justice and to save the confused Bakeneko, and now, she could barely save herself. She broke at the thought, and the tears began, quickly flooding her vision as she finally let them run free.


	15. Battle of Brawn!

**Chapter 15 – Battle of Brawn!**

Bogo once again brought up the club, slamming it into the blade of the large spear weapon. This action caused the blade to careen wildly to the side of the large armored warrior, opening both of them up to a strike, only if they could have made one. The club wide to the right of Bogo, and the tip of the blade out to the left of the samurai, both combatants' eyes focused on their opponent, waiting for a next move. Bogo then lifted the club, gripping the head with his other hoof, letting the shaft of the spear hit, blocking the strike his opponent had made. It was like he was running off of instinct, he lunged his head forward and slammed it into his opponent's helmet. The large warrior didn't expect it, he felt the moment it connected, the impact actually collapsing the front of his helmet, bending the hardened metal caving. He backed up, the pain and shock forcing his eyes closed. Bogo took the opportunity, dashing forward club raised. Just as the samurai threw his helmet off, mask flying with it. Before anyone could say or do anything, the club Bogo had in his hooves slammed right into the warrior's chest, sending the beast flying.

The dust that picked up settled quickly as the large warrior began to stand again, spear but buried in the ground so as to help make the journey smoother. Bogo could finally see him, his opponent. A large boar like creature sat there, no tusks and dark red fur with a jet-black mane in the shape of a wild, untamed mohawk. "So that's what you look like under the mask." Bogo said as his opponent grunted in slight pain. Then, the creature laughed again, this time a hardy, belting laugh that spoke of excitement and intrigue, the smile on his face telling of acceptance, he was glad to be fighting the large water buffalo.

Suddenly, the warrior spoke, his words once again unknown to the chief. "To bad we can't understand each other." Bogo said, "Maybe we could come to some sort of agreement."

The large boar then slammed his fist against his chest, and nearly shouted "Futotta Buta!" then reached his open hoof to Bogo.

At first, Bogo had no idea what the creature was saying, but then the warrior once again said the words, this time pointing a single cove of his hoof to himself. Bogo smiled, finally understanding, it was his name. He pointed to himself, "Chief Bogo, ZPD!" he said.

"Chief-e Bogo, ZPD!" Futotta Buta repeated, and grinned. This time taking his hoof off of his spear, and placing his palms together. Bogo quickly mimicked the action, leaving the club head down on the ground, he placed his palms together. Then Futotta Buta bent his body at the hip, bowing almost half way. Bogo did the same, and repeated the name he had just heard, "So, Futotta Buta. Let's not wrinkle or best, shall we?" he asked, getting a lifted eyebrow from the large boar. The samurai only understood when he saw Bogo begin to remove his shirt. No holding back! He quickly, and skillfully removed the top part of his armor, letting the metallic plates hit the ground with a ringing thud as Bogo hung his shirt up on a nearby tree branch. Next the large boar shrugged off his kimono, the large top that rested underneath the armor. Bogo then cracked his neck and Futotta Buta rolled his shoulders and grabbed his weapon. Bogo did the same, gripping his club in one hoof as he let the thing rest on the ground while Futotta Buta lifted his weapon in both hooves and lowered the head to the ground at his side.

It seemed like ages as they waited, each once again sizing up their opponent, but this time, also trying to measure their new power. Bogo could hear the heavy armor hit the ground when it did, so he knew that now his opponent has much less weight on his shoulders. This could easily make him faster, or let him hit harder. Heck, even both could happen now. He was going to have to be on his guard. Plus, the fact that Futotta Buta was just about the same size as he was underneath that metal plating, meant that the boar, though big, was also naturally strong. "Chief-e Bogo, ZPD." the buffalo heard his opponent say, and then heard nothing but Pandanese words. The chief didn't need a translator, nor did he need to understand the words, he just saw the look on Futotta Buta's face, and that told him everything he needed to know. It was a declaration, a promise to have a great battle, just between the two of them. In response Bogo grinned and nodded. It was going to be a great battle. He was quick when Futotta Buta launched himself, but even he didn't expect the speed the large beast could move. It was by sheer luck that his timing was right. He lifted his club and took the strike. The impact against his weapon actually pushed him backwards. Close to three yards.

"Impressive." Bogo said, and made his own strike. Though it wasn't as quick, Bogo made sure to put all of his strength into it. The strike was naturally blocked by the faster Futotta Buta, but the large boar found himself sliding back more than six yards. Both smiling as they looked back to each other, it was sheer strength versus speed and power. They both thought the same thing, 'This will be fun.' and without holding back, the two of them lunged at each other, clashing once again in the middle, Bogo quickly taking advantage of the stalemate by placing more of his strength into his legs, and pushing. Futotta Buta slid backwards, quickly losing ground until he sidestepped, causing the larger animal to topple forward where he used to stand. Bogo let himself hit the ground, rolling in midair and swinging the club swiftly. He was correct in his anticipation, the blade was quickly deflected to the side, much farther than before thanks to the buffalo using more of his strength. Bogo then swung the club back, trying to connect with his opponent's chest. It was close, just scraping the fur of Futotta Buta as the large boar backed up a few steps. Bogo continued the momentum, using the roll of not just the club, but his body to right himself and stand back up on his hooves. The boar stood shocked, and impressed. He was happy and elated, like he had found an old friend that had gone missing for decades.

Then his happiness turned to shock again, this time a horror shock, the samurai that Bogo had taken the club from, was standing up, and stood close to Bogo, his new friend. Honor demanded that he both defend Bogo from the eventual onslaught he knew was coming, and demanded he aid in the attack, defending the palace gates.

His decision was made for him when Bogo lifted the club, slamming it into the head of the samurai behind him. Bogo, then turned, and watched as the large warrior, dizzy from the impact, fell to the ground, "Why didn't you tell me he was there?" Bogo asked, disappointment only partially in his voice. Futotta Buta smiled, and actually laughed out loud, catching Bogo off guard.

Then in Pandanese, spoke. Thought Bogo couldn't understand him, his words said much, "Our battle would rage on for eternity. Though only one of us has such time." The confusion on his new friend's face told him all he need, Bogo had no idea what he was saying, "I wish you could understand me my friend." he said, and the two turned when a loud shout was heard from the next platform.

"That would be Wolford." Bogo said, "Sounds like he's got himself into a bit of a trouble." Then with a sharp turn, he asked, "Care to join me?" and pointed up the stairs with a cloven thumb and a smile. Futotta Buta smiled, wishing to join his friend, he began thinking, he would explain leaving his post as an attempt to aid his comrade, the dishonorable ninja that rested just above his position. Yes, this would suffice as an excuse.


	16. Where is Your Honor?

**Chapter 16 – Where is Your Honor?**

Gurē once again dashed forward, purposely passing Wolford as he missed his quick opponent. Standing and turning to grip the paw of the fallen wolf, "He's fast." Wolford said. The black fox with stars in his fur turned his head, looking around for his opponent, but finding nothing, just like last time.

"Have-e you no honor?" Gurē shouted at the air around him. The air didn't respond, it sat still, quiet. He kept his eyes vigilant, trying to spot anything standing out. Suddenly, he heard Wolford take a sniff of the air. Turning slightly to the grey wolf, he watched the brown timber wolf, eyes closed and nose in the air. Suddenly Wolford turned and lifted his dart gun. Quickly the wolf aimed a little to the let of a tree and pulled the trigger. Gurē watched as a large green patch rolled to the side, barely getting clipped by the dart. In Pandanese, the patch swore, and turned, gripping his arm. Underneath a green pile of leaves, stood the ninja, but instead of his red outfit, he wore a brown one, trying to mimic the bark of the bush he was trying to imitate. "Nice shot." the fox said, "How-e did you know where he was?"

"His scent is sitting in the air. All I have to do is follow the trail." Wolford whispered.

Gurē then stopped, let his nose feel the air. Not even a twitch of his whiskers. 'How did I not feel dis before?' he asked himself, 'There is no wind, the air does not move.'

"It's getting thinner!" he heard Wolford say, "I'm not sure how much time we have left."

"Ex-e-cuse me?" Gurē asked.

"The air here isn't getting to the plants because there's no wind. That means our exhales cannot get turned back into air. We only have a limited amount of time here. If we run out of air, we suffocate." Wolford said.

These words got Gurē to open his eyes in shock. He had thought that the air was just going to be there when they needed it. Not that something as subtle as wind could have such a strong effect on how long they have. "We-e need to end dis, and fast." he whispered, and then turned, "Can-e you lure him to me?"

"I think I can. Why?" Wolford asked.

"Okami No Toboe." was all the black fox said, and looked down at his left palm. Clenching a tight fist, he lifted his eyes back up, only to find the ninja gone again, "I-e need time to concentrate." he said, "I-e have-e not used dis tech-o-nique in quite some time."

"I got yah!" Wolford said, and closed his own eyes. "Where are you?" he whispered to himself. His nose twitched a little, his head quickly swiveling before he repeated the action. The brown wolf did this several times in short bursts, until he smiled, "Found you!" he said, and turned, grabbing the paw of his assailant, knife gripped tightly in its claws. With a quick twist and a push of the ninja's shoulder, Wolford had the assassin's arm twisted behind it's back. "You're under arrest." he said, right before the, now, red dressed warrior right before the creature pulled its head forward and slammed the back of it into Wolford's nose. Instinctively Wolford let go of his assailant, and reached up to grab the offending injury. He opened his eyes just in time to see the ninja swing around with the knife. He was quick enough to dodge, but not fast enough to come out unscathed, the knife cut deep into his left arm. He again clenched the wound, and let out a loud growling cry of pain with a whimper behind it. "Damnit!" he growled to himself and lunged, just as the ninja tried again, slamming his good shoulder into the assassin's back. The ninja then braced itself, landing on the pads of its feet before turning swiftly, throwing the police officer to the floor. The impact to the stone ground was enough to stun Wolford, driving the breath from his lungs and again causing him pain when he slammed against the wall of the temple. He was stunned when three shuriken blades found themselves pinning his uniform shirt to the wall, two on his right side while one found its way to the cut on his left arm.

He couldn't move, not in time. He watched as the red clad assassin ran up to him, blade drawn. The ninja had what looked like a smiling blood-thirsty look, that was only blocked when Gurē stepped in front. "Shieeeh!" the black fox called out as he thrust his left palm forward, his blue glowing left palm. The blast that came forth was fierce, like that of a shot gun. The energy expanded, slamming into the chest of the overly focused ninja. The concussion carried the unnatural thing the entire distance of the large flat platform, letting it land only inches from the stairs and tilt backwards. Gurē wasted no time, the black fox rushed forward, curling his palm back towards his right, and thrusting his right paw into the chest of the tipsy ninja. With nothing to catch itself, the assassin went flying from the top stair, sailing above six more before beginning the decent, and crashing into the actual stair case several more sets down and tumbling down, past the large shirtless water buffalo and giant boar. At the bottom, the thing, unidentified still, lay lifeless. The boar snorted in disgust as Bogo looked down at something that seemed to leak from the body, like a kind of gas leak. Suddenly the two of them heard Gurē shout at them in Pandanese, and then repeat himself in English, "Get up-e here, Wolford is hurt and de others still need our help."

Bogo quickly turned back around, Futotta Buta doing just the same as the two large mammals passed by. Bogo stood still as he passed by Gurē, "Just because this is another world doesn't mean you can get carless Gurē. If this was on purpose, I will charge you with murder." the buffalo said. He watched as the samurai's eyes fell and turned away from him. A sure sign of guilt that he was hoping would amount to nothing. Gurē was, however new, a friend. Suddenly the two heard Futotta Buta speak, his words Pandanese, so Bogo turned to the black fox.

Hesitant to speak, but eager to listen, Gurē turned back to the buffalo, "He-e said dat Wolford will be fine, and is surprised dat we were-eh able to dea-feat…eh." he told the chief, and then turned back, asking something in Pandanese. Futotta Buta then responded, a clear distaste for the creature in his voice. Gurē nodded, and then turned back to the buffalo, "His-e name was Konpaku."

"Konpaku?" Bogo asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It-eh means 'Shadow', 'Spirit' or-eh 'Ghost' in Pandanese." the black fox responded and looked back over the stairs. In surprise, he noticed at the bottom it seemed like they were just empty cloths.

"And where are Hopps and Wilde?" he heard Bogo ask.

Without taking his eyes off of the pile of cloths, Gurē spoke, "Ai has-e escorted dem to de top of de stairs. Not sure how dey are faring now. But-e I know Ai, she will make sure they make-eh it to de top."

"Let's hope you wife is as good as you say she is." Bogo said as he turned away to look up the stairs, "For her sake and theirs."


	17. Take the Load Off!

**Chapter 17 – Take the Load Off!**

Judy let the tears fall, her breathing steady now as she wept away her insecurities, "Not-e to alarm-e you, but we need to get into de building and-e find Bakeneko." the two of them heard Ai say. Judy stiffened, trying not to let her emotions once again take over. She took a breath, a deep breath and gently pushed herself from Nick's embrace.

"Thank you, Nick." she said softly, "I needed that." She looked up at him, tears glossing her eyes so that they shined in the artificial light.

"Any time Fluff!" he said, and placed his paw to her cheek.

With a content sigh, Judy gently gripped his clawed hand, and pulled it away from her face, gently rubbing the thick fur on the back of his paw. "I'm OK now. Let's do this." she said, and turned to the front door, keeping her grip on his larger paw as she led Nick to the entrance just behind Ai.

She waited as she watched the other bunny press her paws against the doors, and give a powerful push. The doors slowly opened up to a large palace entrance, several doors made of paper separated them from whatever they were hiding. The three of them listened carefully as they entered in, hearing two shouting voices as they tried desperately to confront each other. Ai turned in circles, trying to hear where the voices were coming from. Judy on the other hand, closed her eyes, letting her ears work the way they were supposed to. "This way!" she said, and tugged Nick's paw, his movement catching Ai's attention and letting her know where to go. Judy moved quickly, tugging the red fox with her as she ran, using her free paw to push open doors as she went. Suddenly, they entered into a long room, animals dressed in white robes and tall black hats lining both sides while Bakeneko and what looked to be a bulky snow leopard in black robes sat in front of a covered chair with a weasel in black robes sitting next to it and a shaded animal inside while the two were nearly shouting at each other in their native language. Seconds after they entered, the shouting stopped, and everyone turned to them. Ai came up behind them, and quickly leapt out in front of them before falling to her knees and placing her forehead to the ground in a bow and began speaking Pandanese. She was silenced when the shaded animal lifted a single paw, and the weasel turned to listen. Then in Pandanese, responded. "De Emperor wishes to know what it is you want." Ai whispered.

Judy snapped out of her daze first, "Bakeneko, we are here to rescue you!" she said, to which Ai translated. The entire room began laughing, and then the weasel began talking.

"She is in no danger here, dis is but a trial." Ai translated.

"Bakeneko, this isn't real!" Judy said while Ai translated, "I know how frustrating it is to not get justice, I understand that you're scared. But this isn't real. I know you're trying to prove yourself innocent, I get it. But all of this happened in the past. You can't just try to run away from reality."

Ai closed her eyes at the last sentence, and her words changed. She stood up, looking Bakeneko in the eyes, "I'm scared to." she said in her native language, "I'm like you. Gurē and I were also locked away for centuries. We were scared of this place as well. This new age, it is really different from our world."

"What would you know of fear?" the cat asked.

"My entire village was destroyed right in front of me." she responded, "A mad badger with the power of demon came and killed everyone, fed them and their souls to a dragon of death and pain." Her tears began to flow, streaking down her face as she remembered the day, "No matter how long I wait, no matter how many years I would have been locked in that crystal, I'll never see them again." she whispered, softening Bakeneko's expression, "I was locked in crystal for 800 years, I'm more like you than you know." Bakeneko's face then turned to shock, "When Gurē and I were freed, we didn't know anything, we were like you, alone. But we found friends, Judy-san and Nick-o-san, they helped us. Now we live in the world of this time." Without even worrying about it, Ai made her way to the cat, "I ask you now, let me show you how." she said, and then reached out her paw, "Let me show you the new world and all the wonders that come with it. Let me help you. You don't have to be afraid anymore."

"I am frightened, creatures like me are not accepted." Bakeneko said and turned her head away.

"Not true, I saw a mixed bread not long ago." Ai said, and heard the Weasel say 'stop' but she refused, "Nick-o-san actually bought your doll from her." Bakeneko turned to the red fox, surprise in her eyes, "I promise, you don't have to be afraid anymore. You aren't going to get chased, you won't be used if you don't want to be. You can stop running." Those words seemed to stick with Bakeneko, as the cat turned to the rabbit, eyes shining with hope, and lifted her paw.

"You do this now and you will be found guilty of treason to the Emperor." the weasel said, just as Bakeneko grabbed Ai's paw. Suddenly, the world began shaking and the animals began fading into spirits.

"You fools!" the emperor said, and stood up from his chair, Adrian emerged.

"I should have known." Judy said as she glanced at the badger.

"Why do you always have to disturb me and my plans?" the badger asked.

"Well you did kind of challenge us, so…" Nick said as Ai and Bakeneko joined them.

"You think jokes will save you this time?" Adrian asked, "I can enter and exit these worlds at will, you on the other paw…" he said as he literally threw the throne to the side, revealing a tear in reality, "…have to make it back before the world collapses." With a chuckle, he stepped through, "Good luck!" he said, and disappeared through the tear just as it closed up. At this, Ai, Bakeneko, Nick and Judy all turned, and began running as quickly as they could, Bakeneko, not really sure why until Ai explained what was happening in her own language.

It wasn't far, but when the world began shaking, Bogo, Gurē, Wolford and Futotta Buta all fell to the ground. "What is going on now?" He was surprised when the four animals he knew burst through the front doors of the castle, and began running as quickly as they could.

"Ai?" Gurē asked, and stood up to run at her side as they descended the stairs.

"Adrian created dis world, and now he-e is letting it fall apart around us!" his wife said as she ran even faster.

"Wait what?" Bogo asked, "I know Adrian made this world but why would he let it fall apart?"

"Good-e question." Gurē responded and turned to ask Bakeneko the question. When she was done, the black furred fox turned back to the group, "She said-e dat dis world was made for her to get revenge, her justice on de monk dat trapped her as a doll in de first place."

"Is that what Adrian told you?" Judy asked. After Ai translated for her, and listened as the feline made her reply.

"Yes!" Ai said, "Dat was before he introduced dis world to her."

Suddenly Futotta Buta let out a mighty growl of anger, he began talking in rage, grabbing the hair on the top of his head as if to pull it out. "He said dat he cannot believe how much of a fool he was." Gurē told the rest, of the team as they began to run through the town. Gurē listened to more as the giant boar kept ranting, "Dis place wasn't built for just one-e person, it was built as a trap for da souls of those who became trapped inside."

"How do you mean?" Wolford asked. Gurē simply shrugged and turned to ask the other samurai.

This time, Futotta Buta let his arms fall from his head and back to his sides as he ran, speaking in a serious voice he caught the attention of everyone, "He said dat he cannot say for sure, but everyone in dis place is already dead."

"Wait!" Bogo shouted, and the group stopped, "Where is the road?"

The gang looked around, nothing but forest in front of them, and when they turned around, they could see the ground, the buildings, and all of the people inside get pulled up and fade into nothing but spirits, "We followed a road from the door, clear as day. Where did it go?"

"Nick and I came in through a door in the woods." Judy said, and looked for the path, "I don't see the path."

Wolford suddenly stopped, and let his eyes open, "Do you guys feel that?" he asked. Everyone suddenly stopped, letting the silence fill the air, "It's moving, we're close."

"I knew I brought you for a reason!" Bogo said, and followed as the brown wolf took slow steps, finding his way.

"The door…" Wolford began, and stepped in front of a large tree, "…is here!" he shouted, and darted around the right side. Judy quickly followed, and behind the tree, the door sat, twisted and warped out of shape. With a quick bound, she lept through the door as it once again twisted and writhed. Next came Nick, then Ai and Gurē both. Bogo was last as he pushed Futotta Buta out the door with the giant boar giving a defiant grunt as he softly hit the floor. Then the door began to shrink. Bakeneko jumped through, transformed into a bunny, but she got through. They turned around, watching as the door shrank, and then grew again to recreate the door to one of the broken-down rooms.


	18. Was It Real?

**Chapter 18 – Was It Real?**

Bogo watched as the decerped room appeared, the empty bare walls void of everything. It was as if the world that was once there never even existed. He wouldn't have believed it if his friend, Futotta Buta had not come through with them. His surprise once again escalated when he turned to the boar, and found him fading slowly. The same surprised look was on the face of his new friend, but Futotta Buta was looking at his own hooves as they faded to nothing. Futotta looked up at Bogo, tears shining in his eyes, only to smile brightly. Then in Pandanese, spoke. Bogo turned to Gurē, eyes still wide as the black fox turned his head, and translated, "He thanks you for freeing his spirit."

Bogo couldn't even speak, so Nick did, "Free his spirit?" he asked.

"In-e our belief, de spirit moves on to be reborn later, some-e-times centuries later." Ai replied with reverence.

"So, that means…" Judy said as she looked to the disappearing boar.

"Everyone in dat world was already dead. Probably for centuries." Gurē said, and bowed to Futotta Buta before backing away, making room for Bogo. The buffalo walked forward, though he had only jut met this warrior, the battle they had forged them into fast friends. Once again, Futotta Buta spoke, the tears spilling drop by drop from his face, "Pull it together man!" Bogo said as the tears began to form in his own eyes. Futotta Buta sniffed, coughed and straightened up, then with out a word, slammed his right fist to his heart. The fading was well more than half way now, so without a word, Bogo returned the gesture. Futotta Buta then turned to Gurē, and nodded, before speaking. "What did he say?"

Ai was the one who spoke up, "He said, don't be too hard on him." she said, "About what?"

The two friends once again looked at each other, smiles on both faces as the boar continued to fade, "Good-e-bye Chief Bogo, ZPD!" just as the boar faded completely.

"Goodbye Futotta Buta." Bogo said in reverent response as he kept his fist to his chest.

Outside, the police kept a vigil that would have rivaled the guard at Fort Knox. Eyes open and patrols on guard. Animals with paws on their dart guns ready for anything. The workers talking and waiting at the side of the site. Nerves were tense and thoughts were everywhere for all except one. Jake, the teenage otter sat there bobbing his head forward and back, his eyes closed lightly as he hummed and beatboxed to one of his favorite songs. He was so engrossed, he didn't even notice his shoulder being touched by a black fur covered paw, then a badger's mouth lean into his ear only to whisper something. Though you'd think the earbuds would have saved him from listening to the devious plot, his eyes opened wide, and his pupils vanished. He started dancing, scooting his way towards a large glass like wall. "Hey Jake, what are you doing?" his boss asked. Jake didn't even answer, he just kept dancing until he was there. "Jake, you idiot!" the beaver shouted, right before the otter teen deliberately flipped the switch on the yellow box. "MOVE!" the beaver shouted to everyone who was close, and ducked behind a large machine. The cops close by ran, just as they began to hear the explosions from inside take out the supports.

The building rocked as the explosives went off catching everyone off guard as suddenly, the floor fell out from under them. It was like the couldn't move, until something big grabbed them.

Adrian watched as the building came crashing down, the smile on his face murderous as he watched the bricks and steel crumble under its own gravitational pull. His smile lasted a short while, only breaking when he spotted a large lump of shifting debris in the middle. In his surprise, Jake fell to the ground unconscious. Just as well the pile of bricks and mortar moved, shifting up to reveal a larger shelled sharp beaked green skinned creature with a hard bone like dome on its head. "A giant Kappa!" he said out loud as the everyone gazed at the giant beast. It quickly began to shrink, folding in on itself as the green skin grew into orange and light brown fur and the dome on its head milted into cat ears.

Bakeneko soon lay on the ground, bare naked. Bogo stood up from where he lay, and quickly placed his overly large uniform shirt on her back. She turned to look at him, a hardened gaze to be sure but one that carried thanks in their stare. With as simple nod, she knew what he was saying, 'Job well done.' She was surprised when a roar of cheers rang out. Judy, Nick, Bogo, Wolford, Ai, and Gurē all glanced around as the entirety of the ZPD district one made their way through and over the pile of debris. "Damn." Adrian said, and again vanished into the background.

"You guys ok?" one of the officers asked.

"What happened to that giant turtle thing?" another asked.

"She's pretty hot!" another said, getting a glare from just about every one there, "What?" the lion asked.

"Look," Bogo said, "It's been a rough day, everyone back to work. Hopps, Wilde, Wolford and I will handle the rest. Now, where's Adrian?" The other cops looked at each other, hopping someone had the answer, "Someone had better have seen him." Bogo said.

"Adrian is a sorcerer." Nick said, "No telling where he is now chief."

Bogo simply growled a little out of frustration, and then gently landed a cloven hoof on Bakeneko's shoulder, "Unfortunately we have to hire a professional translator for the rest of this, you two may go home." he said to Ai and Gurē.

"Who would be more professional den dose who lived in her time period?" Gurē asked.

"Someone who does it for a living." Bogo quickly said.

"I-a have spoken to some of de people around here, our dialect is all but lost to dem." Ai said in response.

With a soft slap to his forehead, he turned to Nick and Judy, all they did was nod. "To be honest sir, I think we should keep the truth close to the chest until we get this whole thing sorted out. No one believed our first case, what makes you think they'll believe this one?" the doe told him.

"She can transform!" he said.

"Yah, and then they'll run tests on her, keep her locked up and force her to do things she's been running from her whole life!" Nick said with a stern glare, "And you know it chief. She just wants to live a normal life, like us all. But she can't, not with a power like that, not unless we let her."

Bogo sighed, looking down at the scared cat as she looked back up at him with a hint of confusion, "Ok, so now what?" he asked.


	19. My New Home!

**Chapter 19 – My New Home!**

It was the first time for her, to be in such a beautiful building. When she found her way into the ZPD first precinct she stood amazed. She had heard how beautiful it was from Ai as the bunny happily chatted away with her in a familiar dialect, but she had never expected it to look so beautiful. And then, right there, sitting in the middle of the floor, surrounded by a half circle desk, sat the chubbiest cheetah she had ever seen. "Konnichiwa!" she heard her rabbit friend call out as Ai made her way up to the chubby cat.

"Konnichiwa, Usagi Ai!" Ben replied. Bakeneko was surprised, this cheetah had even said her friend's name correctly, the way she would have addressed her.

Ai chuckled a bit as she bounced up to the desk, and then jumped to grab the edge with her paws and lift herself up to look Ben in the eyes, "How-e are you today?" Ai asked.

Ben placed a paw to his mouth in excuse, and then spoke in Pandanese, "Genki desu. Anata wa?" he replied.

"Very good!" Ai said in response.

"Did Clawhouser just speak more Pandanese then we know?" she heard the other bunny ask. Judy, her name was.

"Ben, did you learn that from a text book?" Nick asked.

"Nope!" the cheetah said, then gestured to the bunny kneeling on his desk, "I learned it from talking with her!"

Nick let his surprise show, his eyes opened wide in both shock and embarrassment, "Oh," he said and then cleared his throat, "good for you man, really!"

It wasn't hard, again she looked to the chubby cheetah, and finally he saw her, his eyes opening wide as he looked to her, and with a shy paw, waved to her and with a much softer voice, said, "Konnichiwa."

She waved to him nervously, and replied, "Konnichiwa." Right before she was gently escorted by chief Bogo into an adjoining room.

"Is that Bakeneko?" Ben asked.

"Yes!" Ai said as she watched Gurē follow Bogo into the hallway that led to cafeteria. "We-eh have decided to help her, like Gurē and I she is displaced as well."

"Oh?" Clawhouser asked, "Where sill she stay?"

"Dunno yet!" Nick said, "Probably somewhere out of the way, or maybe back at the…you know…destroyed apartment."

"That's terrible!" Judy told the fox in anger.

"It was meant as a joke!" he admitted, "Of course Bogo wouldn't let that happen."

"Well, maybe she can stay at my apartment." Clawhouser said, and then blushed when the two looked at him, "Well I mean, just until we can get her a proper apartment close by." The looks didn't diminish, Judy looked confused while Nick had a suggestive look, "It's not like that, I just have an extra room because my old roommate moved out and I thought, you know, I could help." The looks didn't go away.

"What ever the chief decides on, I'm sure it'll work out for her." Nick said to defuse the tension. This gave him the opportunity to wrap his arm around Judy, and walk away with her, leaving Clawhouser blushing into his own paws.

"That's adorable!" Judy said once they were outside of earshot.

"Yah, who knew Clawhouser would get a crush?" Nick said, and then a thought popped into his head, a single conversation he had had with himself, "Look!" he said as he sighed, and moved so that he was facing her, "There's something I've been trying to say for a while, and I think it's about time I just went and said it."

Judy looked up at him, eyes both curious and hopeful. It was that look that made the other thoughts start to appear, what if she didn't feel the same? What if she did, then what? He stuttered, the words catching in his throat, and with a sigh, and his eyes shut, he said it, "I'm in love with you!" Though the words came out with a serious squeak that he was sure she couldn't understand him.

When Judy chuckled lightly, his heart almost fell, but with her words, she caught it, "I know you do!" she said.

"Wait, you do?" he asked in confusion.

"Yah, I kind of overheard you talking to yourself in the bath house." she told him.

"You did?" he asked as the blush deepened.

She chuckled again, and wrapped him in a hug, "And I love you to!" she told him.

This time he smiled again, the blush subsiding for the happiness that flooded his nerves, and soon, he returned the embrace. Quickly he opened one of his eyes, and peeked around, this time no one was there to whoop and holler at them.

In the future, Bakeneko will have learned to speak the language of the city. In the future, she will have made the choice to train, and become one of Zootopia's greatest undercover officers. In the future, Judy and Nick would be sitting in the Kitsune Kitchen again on a date. In the future, Nick will have to be much braver. But that's a story yet to be written.


	20. Epilog

**Epilog – This Broken House?**

Patty Bella, a half breed snow leopard, whistled as she worked, packing boxes into a large moving van from the house she had been selling goods out of. The house sold, and the more precious of items packed, she reached up and grabbed the truck door, sliding it down and latching it down. With a few pats of her paws, she turned and came face to face with a large badger wearing a black robe and holding a long metal staff, "Great Grandpa!" she called out, and was pinned against the truck as the badger lifted his paw. It seemed like her struggles were in vain as she tried to claw at whatever was holding her up by the neck without choking her, there was nothing for her to grip.

"Hello Patricia." Adrian said darkly, "Where are my prizes?" She struggled harder against the magic, trying to force herself from the truck, "My demons," he asked again his temper rising, "where are they?"

With a flick of his wrist, she went sailing across the driveway. She slid across the concrete until she slammed her back into the closed garage door. "What the?" she heard in a familiar voice. She looked up, seeing her husband, a large spotted leopard, standing next to the driveway path, and quickly looked back to Adrian.

"NO!" she called out as the badger once again flipped his entire arm at the leopard, sending the male flying into the stone pillar that held the top floor up above the grass lawn and then down to the ground. He didn't move to get up.

"Where are my dolls?" Adrian asked and walked into the moon light. It seemed like the light that touched his fur was swallowed by the blackness of it, only reflecting off of the white that lined his tail and shaped his eyes. It was frightening.

"You're too late, you crazy old coot." she said angrily, "I sold most of them, you'll never find them now."

"Most of them?" he asked, and turned to the truck. With a wave of his staff, the door to the cab opened up, and out floated a shoe box. When it reached him, he gripped the top with his free paw, and tore the lid from the rest of it, "I see." he said, and lifted what looked like a skeleton of a monkey, the only things left of it were the head, chest and its left arm. With some clicking of his tongue, he scolded her with a dark and calm voice, "You haven't been taking very good care of my gifts."

"They'll never come back to life, and you've lost Bakeneko haven't you?" she growled at him, a smile forming in her face, "Why else would you bee so eager to take the others back?" Her smile fell when he lifted his paw, and she heard the garage door begin to open.

"Thanks to you I now have to hunt for my demons." he said, and twisted his paw in a circular motion, she spun so that her neck was right were the door would come down. Her eyes when wide as she realized what he was planning, "It's just too bad you had to be born like this, an unnatural amalgamation. Even if you are…" he hesitated a little with the word, "…family." he finished, and hit the side of the truck.

She felt every limb she had go stiff, like it was pinned to the ground. Adrian turned, and lifted a paw as he began walking away, his first finger touching his thumb, and with a click of his claws, started the garage door's decent. She panicked, her eyes seeming to be the only thing able to move as she looked back at Adrian, watching him vanish from sight as it looked like he just walked behind a curtain. She turned her eyes back to the door, the decent slow, but not slow enough for her. She tried to lift her arms, but to no avail, they were pinned, most likely by a spell. If she could survive.

She looked around, her eyes wildly wandering, until she saw it, the sensors for the garage door. And with only a few seconds thought, she placed all of her strength into her head, slowly tilting it, lifting her chin until…BEEP!

She opened her eyes, seeing the red light had lit up and the door only six or less inches away from crushing her neck. It had stopped, and then just as quickly, it lifted back up. With that, she relaxed.

It was a short while until the spell faded, and the first thing she did was run to the cab of the truck, to grab her cellphone, "Hello!" she said after dialing, "ZPD? My husband is hurt!" she told the animal on the other line, "Please send paramedics, and…" she hesitated for just a minute, "Please, send Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde. They're friends of mine."

 **The End?**


End file.
